Dr. James R. Halpert

Obituary

Guest Book

James Halpert Obituary

Obituary published on Legacy.com by Marana Mortuary & Cemetery on Jun. 6, 2024.

Dr. James R. Halpert, known as "Jim" to his family and friends, passed away on June 3, 2024 near his home in Tucson, Arizona. Jim was born in Los Angeles, California on December 5, 1949 to Ruth L. Halpert and Saul E. Halpert. Jim was the elder of two brothers. Jim leaves behind his most beloved wife, Dr. Li Wang, stepdaughter, Shan (Jennifer), and cousins, Jerry, Allan, and Al.
Jim's life was characterized by great personal and professional achievements. After earning a bachelor's degree in Scandinavian languages from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1970, Jim earned his PhD in biochemistry from Uppsala University, Sweden in 1977, where he worked with Dr. David Eaker. Jim went on to earn an MS degree in Toxicology at the Karolinska Instute in 1978, working with Dr. Magnus Ingelman-Sundberg. He later joined the laboratory of Dr. Robert A. Neal at Vanderbilt University. In 1983, Jim joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Arizona and began his independent research.
Spanning the fields of biochemistry, toxicology, and pharmacology, Jim's research was highly recognized, earning a MERIT award, Faculty Development and Excellence Awards from the PHRMA Foundation, and 33 years of grant support from the National Institutes of Health. In 2010 Jim was the recipient of the prestigious Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) and in 2019, he went on to become a fellow of ASPET.
Throughout his career, Jim was appointed to progressively responsible leadership positions, including Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch; Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs at UC San Diego's Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Dean of the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy. Jim's leadership also included service as Chairman of the NIH Pharmacology Study Section; Editor of Drug Metabolism and Disposition; Secretary-Treasurer and President of ASPET; and Treasurer of ISSX.
Jim's parents laid the groundwork for his accomplishments through their own examples. His mother, Ruth, started her career as a teacher. In her 40s, Ruth went on to obtain a Ph.D from UCLA and became a popular Professor of Psychology at Califonia State University Northridge. Jim's father, Saul, was a longtime broadcast journalist. Saul was known for his on-the-scene reporting of critical events such as school busing, the Baldwin Hills Flood, and the Los Angeles riots. His career lasted over 40 years making him a legend and household name to millions of people.
Jim's life was deeply affected by the tragic death of his younger brother Robert who was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 25. Rob's death devastated Jim and his parents and left an indelible mark on their family. Jim, Ruth, and Saul spoke of Rob often and never forgot the importance of his life.
Jim's loved ones are profoundly saddened and shocked by his sudden passing. His presence will be forever missed. Rest in peace in the everlasting arm of the heavenly father.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Sign James Halpert's Guest Book

Not sure what to say?

Recent Activity

June 14, 2024

Yasuna Kobayashi posted to the memorial.

June 13, 2024

Nancy Wills posted to the memorial.

June 11, 2024

Lynn Wecker posted to the memorial.

5 Entries

Yasuna Kobayashi

June 14, 2024

19963

Nancy Wills

June 13, 2024

I knew Jim when he was married to my good friend Ana Pajor. My last memory of Jim was shortly before Jim and Ana moved from Galveston when I invited them and some other friends to a cruise on Galveston Bay for my birthday. It was a very warm becalmed evening and nearly half the people became seasick. Jim nonetheless remained cheerful and even seemed to have a good time. That is how I will remember him- upbeat and enjoying the party.

Lynn Wecker

June 11, 2024

Will always have fond memories of Jim.

Mary Schlobohm

June 11, 2024

Jim Halpert was my boss from February 2001 until March 2008, when he moved to San Diego. He had asked if John and I would go with him, I was ready to pack my bags when realization hit when my husband John said that it was very expensive to live there and we would not be able to afford a boat slip and get decent housing and also that John would need to find a job, oh well, so I stuck it out at UTMB until my 60th birthday at UTMB working in the Provost Office. I also had the privilege of being the Editorial Assistant for Drug Metabolism and Disposition during Jim’s term from 2001 to 2005.

Jim’s had the ability to recruit some of the best PHTO professors and postdocs to join his department, faculty like Drs. Xiaodong Cheng, Scott Gilbertson, Geoff Swanson that added to our talented faculty of Drs. Kathryn Cunningham, Betty Williams, Odd Steinsland, Ken Johnson, Gil Hillman, Mary Thomas, Joel and Patty Gallagher and Miriam Falzon and for hiring postdocs in his lab, Emily Scott, Dmitri Davydov, and Santosh Kumar, to name a few. Only one time that I can remember that he was unable to recruit a postdoc from Mongolia, but I think this worked out for the best. I don’t think he would have adapted to the Texas summer temps and humidity. Jim’s research was top notch, he was always well funded with NIH and NIEHS grants.

DMD was a great opportunity for me to work with Jim on receiving and assigning manuscripts to the Associate Editors; at first, we received paper manuscripts, boy, were we so glad when it went to electronic submission. Thanks to Jim, I got to meet some of the Associate Editors from either being a guest speaker at UTMB as a speaker or when I traveled to an ASPET meeting and met them in presentations or dinners and to name a few, DMD Journal Director, Rich Dodenhoff, Managing Editor, Jill Filler and Associate Editors, Drs. Eddie Morgan (loved listening to his Scottish accent at the dinner table), Russell Prough, Jeffrey Stevens, Steven Wrighton, to name a few. I even had my name mention in a Symposium Article back in 2003, where I gathered research information for Dr. Stevens, which I enjoyed doing immensely and all thanks to Jim for this opportunity.

Jim and some of the faculty and postdocs in the department worked annually with summer high school students with what was called the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). Each student would work in a lab for I think, about 8 weeks and then finish with presenting a poster presentation of what they learned. What a great opportunity to show them what this academic & research profession was like. Jim was able to acquire some funding from ASPET to help keep the cost down and we did see some students enroll in the PhD program.

Okay, now I need to try and remember all the parties/outings we had, for either faculty retirement or for the holidays. Sorry my laptop crashed before One Drive came into existence, I had some great photos and videos of some of these fun events that Jim held for the department faculty, students and staff. First one that I can recall was for Dr. Odd Steinsland retirement which was at Fisherman’s Wharf upstairs room, and we had this crooner, Odd wanted him to sing at his party. What a nice evening and I also remember Dr. Betty Williams in attendance at this event, who later retired and moved away. We had a department outing to the Houston Aero’s hockey played and Dr. Richard Hodge at half time, got to shoot the puck into the goal. I remember Kee’s and Lisa Elferink’s daughters, who were quite little at the time having a fun time but were shy when I was trying to take their photos. I remember a party at Gaido’s, where Joanne Collins, Laurie Shook and myself encouraged Jim, who was hesitant at first to sing a golden oldie with the help of the entertainer we had, and he had a blast doing so and he did a good job singing, who knew. We had holiday parties at the Italian restaurant on the strand in the upstairs banquet hall and had a band play and they played all kinds of songs and I found Jim and myself on the dance floor quite a bit of the time. I remember one of Jim’s postdocs, Dmitri, who danced like a robot that was falling over, this scared me then he was near me, I thought he was falling, but that is the way he danced. I remember having DJs perform too at our events and everyone had a great time.

I got to meet Jim’s wife Li, when he came back after an invite to present at UTMB. I attended his presentation and the three of us went to lunch at Saltwater Grille. I immediately knew I was going to like her. She had a sense of humor, friendly personality and was a good match for Jim. During lunch I learned that she got Jim to go to church with her and we talked about religion, which this topic carried on in our conversations for several years.

I am going to miss my dear friend, who called or emailed me every December 1st to wish me a happy birthday and I reciprocated with phone calls to him on his birthday, December 5th. I am going to also miss his calls when he says he is coming to town and wanted to check mine and John’s schedule first before committing to anything, what a kind and dear friend.

Li, hugs and condolences to you and your daughter and know that Jim will be missed by many and even though he has left our lives, he will never leave our hearts.

How you can show support

Get email updates whenever changes are made.

Send flowers

Consider sending flowers.

Add photos

Share their life with photo memories.

Plant trees

Honor them by planting trees in their memory.

Donate in Memory

Make a donation in memory of your loved one.

Share this page

Invite other friends and family to visit the page.

Jay

June 10, 2024

I remember after your interview in 1983, Glenn Sipes and I were driving you to the airport. You were a key addition needed to grow the Toxicology Program at the University of Arizona. It just does not seem that long ago. Hard to believe that you are gone. You were critical to the buildup of our Tox Program and being able to apply for a NIEHS Tox Center. You had a long prestigious career and wore many different hats - you excelled in all of your administrative and leadership roles. Jim - you will be deeply missed by many. Jay Gandolfi

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 results

Funeral Services Provided By

Marana Mortuary & Cemetery

12146 West Barnett Rd, Marana, AZ 85653