Arthur Eli Jacobson

Arthur E. Jacobson, Ph.D.

It is with profound sadness that we note the passing of Dr. Arthur E. Jacobson on November 9, 2025, at the age of 97+. Art was a consultant and collaborator in the Drug Design and Synthesis Section of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for 24 years and in civil service in NIDDK (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) and NIDA, in Intramural Research during the preceding 37 years.

Dr. Jacobson grew up in New York where he attended the Bronx High School of Science and Fordham University College of Pharmacy. He earned his B.S. in 1949 with honors, an M.S. degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (1952) from Rutgers University, College of Pharmacy, and a second M.S. degree, in Organic Chemistry (1954), from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. before being drafted into the army during the Korean war. Art served from 1954-1956 in the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Section of the Army Chemical Center, Edgewood, MD, and returned to Rutgers where he earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (1960) under the mentorship of Dr. Roderick A. Barnes. His postdoctoral work was with Dr. George I. Fujimoto in the Biochemistry Department of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, (1959 -1962).

In 1962, Art joined Dr. Everette May's Medicinal Chemistry group in NIDDK, NIH, as a Research Chemist studying the structure and function of various drugs, especially the 6,7-benzomorphans and the 5-phenylmorphans, classes of antinociceptives that are still being explored. Art had a remarkably long and notable association with The College (formerly, Committee) on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) from its tenure as a Committee of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, then as a Founding Member of the CPDD as it transformed into a membership organization and as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for research and training in the field of drug dependence. Art was an internationally recognized expert in used/misused drugs, and he acted as the Biological Coordinator and/or Chair of the Drug Evaluation Committee of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence from 1976 - 2000 following the Drug Evaluation Committee's original leaders, Drs. Nathan Eddy and Everette May. This Committee of the CPDD, initially with researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Michigan, expanded to researchers in the University of Louisiana, New Orleans, the University of Texas, San Antonio, and the University of Mississippi, Jackson, where the physical dependence

potential and abuse liability of opioids and psychotropic drugs obtained from universities, pharmaceutical industry, and governmental organizations world-wide were evaluated, and this was accomplished as a public service. Art received the J. Michael Morrison Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in 1990 as recognition for his outstanding contributions in scientific administration related to substance use disorders.

Art worked on numerous other committees, including the Washington Recorder Society where he was President of the Board for several years; he also acted as a consultant in various other organizations. He served in supervisory roles for pharmacological and biochemical work at the NIH and was an Affiliate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the School of Basic Health Sciences Medical College of Virginia and The Virginia Commonwealth University from 1984-2002 and a Graduate Program Instructor of "Spectroscopy" in the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland from 1964-1988.

After his retirement from NIH in 2001 as Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, NIDDK, Art returned to NIH in the Drug Design and Synthesis Section (DDSS) of NIDA, collaborating with Dr. Kenner Rice, with whom he worked alongside for over 50 years. In these, his "retirement" years, he greatly enjoyed his interactions with the members of the DDSS, including Dr. Agnieszka Sulima, Mariena Mattson, and many postdoctoral fellows, visiting scientists, and other trainees. During his career, Art delivered invited lectures and authored or coauthored over 400 published, peer reviewed scientific papers, patents and pending applications, scientific reviews and book chapters; he co-authored over 270 abstracts for posters and talks at scientific meetings; and he helped train over 100 young Ph.D. scientists thereby setting a wonderful example for scientific excellence.

Art was an exceptional scientist, colleague, wise counselor, and role model. He was a veteran who served his country, a chemist who served his profession, an eminent, award-winning scientist who served his field. He was also a husband and father to his family, and a friend and mentor to many. He will be sorely missed by his friends and colleagues now and in the future. He is survived by his beloved wife Linda, together for 61 years, during which they basked in the sun in St. Martin, played with penguins on Falkland Island, and froze amidst icebergs in the Antarctic while photographing every inch of the way, and by their children Laura Rose (Peter Rose, Spouse) and Jay Jacobson (Claudia Jacobson, Spouse) and their grandchildren, Jack Rose, Brian Rose, Clara Thompson (Kyle Thompson, Spouse), Jonathan Jacobson, and Caroline Jacobson.

Arthur's funeral will be on Wednesday, November 12 at 2pm at Garden of Remembrance Memorial Chapel in Clarksburg, MD followed by burial. The service will be available to join via livestream, and shiva will be at Temple Beth Ami that evening from 7-9pm (minyan at 7:30pm). Gifts of tzedakah in Arthur's memory may be made to Temple Beth Ami.