Roger Charles Louis Guillemin

Roger Guillemin, age 100, passed peacefully on February 21, on his wife Lucienne's birthday. He began life on January 11, 1924, in Dijon, France as the eldest of two boys. His father, Raymond, was a tool and die maker in the family's metal working facility, a violinist, poet, songwriter, and boxer. His mother, Blanche, encouraged the study of art, biology, foreign languages, and mathematics. His younger brother, Roland, an engineer, became the Foreman of a motor manufacturing company in Dijon.In 1940 when Roger was 16, the German army entered Dijon. He was detained several times for suspicion of being in the Resistance, but his fluency in German helped him out of these difficulties. Not far from Dijon in Besan‡on, he ran a camp for Parisian children rescued by the Red Cross. As part of his work with the Underground, he facilitated the escape of citizens into Switzerland. In stories recounted of that time, he mentioned being wounded by an exploding shell and later, with a friend who died by machine gun fire while surveying a rail line.In 1949, Roger obtained his Medical Degree, Faculty of Medicine in Lyon, France. As a village doctor, he attended a lecture in Paris given by endocrinologist, Hans Selye, on 'stress and the diseases of adaptation.' Inspired by what he heard, he was granted the opportunity to work for one year in Selye's laboratory in Montreal, Canada. This was extended to four years and in 1953, he received his Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Montreal, Canada.While in Canada he became hospitalized with tuberculosis meningitis. An experimental drug called streptomycin, only available in the States, would be his only hope for a cure. His nurse, Lucienne Billard, crossed the border and obtained this new medication. After recovering from his illness, Roger and Lucienne were married in 1952, in Montreal.In 1953 he was invited to join the Department of Physiology at Baylor University, College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In addition to teaching, he continued the research he started in Montreal through scholarship funds from the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, with the support of Hebbel Hoff, the Chairman of Physiology at Baylor University.In 1960, the College de France in Paris, invited Roger to set up a laboratory and Department of Experimental Endocrinology. So, Roger, Lucienne and their six children moved to France. Hebbel Hoff requested that he maintain a joint appointment with his research laboratory at Baylor, which he did. As it turned out, the research environment in France was not what had been promised and in 1963, he returned to Baylor in Houston, Texas with his family.During those years in Houston Roger became an American citizen, in 1965. The laboratory environment became quite vibrant as new discoveries were met with additional funding, which brought new state-of-the-art equipment. With the published success coming from the lab, it was 1969 when Jonas Salk invited Roger to set up a research laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. He accepted and in 1970 moved his family and most of the Baylor team to California. It was during this period of research that new methods were being created which would lead to a 1977 Nobel Prize in Medicine, which he shared with two scientists, Andrew Shally and Rosalyn Yallow. Considered the Father of Neuroendocrinology, he and his team discovered the connection and roles of the pituitary and hypothalamus via hormonal regulation and release, isolating and discovering somatostatin, endorphins, neuropeptides such as CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor), ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), and other cellular and hormonal growth factors such as, TRH, (thyrotropin-releasing hormone, LRF (luteinizing releasing factor), FGF (fibroblast growth factor), GRF (growth hormone-releasing factor), GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), Inhibins and Activins.Roger loved good wines, meeting people, reading and collecting art. After using computers as a scientific tool, in the early '80s, he started experimenting with art programs. Roger was now creating computerized paintings on paper including color-intense landscapes of Northern New Mexico where he and Lucienne established a summer home. His works have been exhibited worldwide and can be found in private and public collections.When asked what his philosophy was in life, he simply replied, "Help people. I really wanted to be a physician [and] I knew all my efforts would be to help people."Roger was pre-deceased by his wife, Lucienne, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 100. He is survived by his six children - Chantal Guillemin, Francois Guillemin, Claire Guillemin, Helene Guillemin Weiss, Elisabeth Guillemin, and Cece Chambless; by his four grandchildren - Omar Guillemin, Sebastien Guillemin, (Kierin Guillemin pre-deceased), Dylan Chambless-Specht, and Daniel Weiss; and by his two great-grandchildren Aksel Weiss Solskinnsbakk and River Specht; by his niece, Martine Guillemin and his nephew, Jean Guillemin, in Dijon, France, and their extended family. He will be greatly missed.Roger's Celebration of Life will be held at the Salk Institute. Share your memory of Roger at http://www.dignitymemorial.com/