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DARWIN PROCKOP Obituary
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Memories and Condolences
for DARWIN PROCKOP
Swarna Ramanjulu
February 27, 2024
In loving memory of a wonderful person who will forever be remembered as a well respected, knowledgeable and brilliant scientist, leader and friend. We will miss you!
Mary Judson Lersch
February 13, 2024
I join in the accolades for Darwin Prockop. I worked for him for ten years at UMDNJ and Jefferson Medical School as administrator for his department. I count those years as the very best in my career. Faced with upsetment, Darwin's standing response was "Oh My." He was the calmest person I ever encountered, always centered on the advancement of research, his holy passion. He was a magnet to many scientists of great quality. I was lucky to serve them.
Charlene Williams
February 12, 2024
I found out about Darwin's passing last evening. My reaction was sadness - and gratitude. Sadness to hear of the loss of wonderful researcher and mentor, and gratitude that I knew him and was able to learn from him for so many years. My first interaction with Darwin was as a graduate student; he was my PhD mentor. It was a very exciting time in connective tissue research and Darwin provided an outstanding environment for students. As a department chair, he was very busy. But at the end of every day, he would make time to meet with each of his students to discuss the day's research results and to plan future experiments. I will never forget his patience and generosity. I also worked with Darwin as a mid-career faculty member. Again, his good nature and respect for his faculty were always evident. So here again, he was an exceptional role model as my own career progressed. I will miss his mind, but even more, his heart. My condolences to his family, and to the community of researchers who were touched by his many talents.
Eijiro Adachi
February 8, 2024
Losing Doctor Prockop is truly mournful. I was fortunate to have the chance to work in Darwin's lab as a postdoctoral fellow for two years, where he connected me with scientists from around the world. My deepest sympathies go to his family as they navigate this challenging period.
Anne Romanic and Bill Arnold
February 7, 2024
It was so sad to hear about Darwin´s passing. What a tremendous legacy. Darwin´s enthusiasm for research was contagious. His brilliance, leadership, and mentorship were well appreciated by all of those who had the privilege to work with him. We so fondly remember our time in his lab and working with a very talented team of colleagues and collaborators. It was truly a special time that Darwin made possible and for which we are forever grateful. Our warmest condolences to his family and friends.
Amy Geddis
February 6, 2024
Hearing the sad news of Darwin's passing brought back many memories of my time at Jefferson as a graduate student. Darwin approached everything he did with great discipline and enthusiasm, an example that benefited me in my later career as a scientist and as a physician. I also enjoyed the truly international collaboration the had assembled, and all the wonderful people that I had the opportunity to work with and learn from. I was privileged to be invited as a fourth in his standing doubles tennis match on occasion, which was great fun (he was as intense on the court as he was in the lab). I appreciate his mentorship and am humbled by his accomplishments.
Jaspal s. khillan
February 6, 2024
It was privilege to work with Darwin for almost ten years. He was amazing mentor and a thorough gentleman in and out. May his soul rest in peace.
Andrzej Fertala
February 6, 2024
I was deeply saddened to hear about Darwin's passing. For 11 years, I had the privilege of working alongside him after he kindly invited me to join his team at Thomas Jefferson University as a postdoctoral fellow. Darwin was a wonderful mentor, and the experience of collaborating with him and the talented group of scientists he led was invaluable. My sincere condolences go out to his family during this difficult time.
Margaret E Groh
February 5, 2024
When this sad news arrived, I reflected back on those early career years at the Jefferson Institute of Molecular Medicine. As a recent college graduate, I was unsure of my career direction. It was under the guidance of Helena Kuivaniemi and Gerard Tromp and under the leadership of Dr. Prockop that I gained the early experience in biotechnology that would become the foundation of my career. I am grateful for the opportunity, the kindness, and the positive working culture that he fostered.
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
More memories of the 2005 conference: Jefferson Matrix Biology Days, 2005.
Many photos taken at the meeting banquet at the National Constitution Center.
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
More memories of the 2005 conference: Jefferson Matrix Biology Days, 2005.
Many photos taken at the meeting banquet at the National Constitution Center.
Darwin in some characteristic poses.
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Gerard Tromp
February 4, 2024
Darwin was an exceptional person as well as an exceptional scientist. I often marvel at how he could remain calm and always need to remind myself of an expression he taught me: don´t invoke malice when simple incompetence will do. Darwin was my supervisor and mentor as a PhD student, post-doctoral fellow and instructor. He was extraordinarily patient and treated students fairly, but differently according to each one´s needs. I suppose this reflected his interest in psychology and psychiatry before his interest in laboratory science was piqued. My time with Darwin included some of the best times of my career. He was able to generate an atmosphere that permitted inquiry into a wide range of topics. Often, this required some nudging by introducing a concept several times over a few weeks. Sometimes this would end up with him walking in excitedly with his new idea, a slight modification of the concept.
I always admired how much time he could spend with students, making rounds late in the afternoon to each student. The conversation would start with "how are you doing?", but what he really meant was "how is your project going?". And the response was always required to be in the standard scientific format: Background and Significance, Methods, Results and Conclusions.
Overall, I spent nine years with Darwin. My doctoral studies took seven years, mostly because during this time I met my soulmate, Helena Kuivaniemi, and was not in a hurry to strike out having to find employment for two scientists in the same field. And I was having fun. We were trying out new techniques and methods, the polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing, cloning, mutation detection and so much more. It was an exciting and productive time. Darwin has 589 publications in PubMed with 872 co-authors, and I was fortunate enough to be a co-author on 33 of those publications.
There is so much more that could be said, but I will end with a few observations. Darwin and Ellie shared a deep bond. Ellie kept us informed and we wrote to her often until her death. Other than that, the driving force of Darwin´s life was an unsatiable curiosity and an excitement for, and about, science. Although he will be missed, he has left an outsized scientific legacy that will be with us for a long time.
Helena Kuivaniemi
February 4, 2024
I was very, very sad to find out that Darwin has died. He was my mentor for many years (1985-1995) and a role model. Science was everything for him. Every time we met (even after I had moved to a different university) he wanted to discuss his latest experiments. The time I spent working with Darwin was the happiest time of my life. During that time I met wonderful scientists from many other countries who were also working in Darwin's lab. We had a great time together! I found the love of my life in a fellow scientist, Gerard Tromp, who was also working in Darwin's lab and we got married in 1987. Scientifically it was also a very productive time. Darwin taught me the art of manuscript writing using his yellow pad and Ticonderoga pencils. We authored 40 papers and book chapters together. He also was instrumental in me getting my first R01 grant from the NIH in 1991.
My deepest condolences to David and Susan and your families. Your father was my "science-dad", who provided the essential support I needed as an early-career scientist when I joined his laboratory.
Karl Kadler
February 3, 2024
It is with deep sadness that I hear about the loss of Darwin. I had the pleasure of 5 wonderful years in Darwin´s lab, first at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and then at Thomas Jefferson Medical College, in the 1980s. They were the best years of my scientific career when I met so many wonderful people and shared so many special times. I grew as a scientist in Darwin´s presence. He will be missed.
Constantinos Constantinou Deltas
February 3, 2024
I was a PhD student of Darwin, he was my Mentor at Rutgers Uni and at Jefferson in Phila. I will always remember with gratefulness his support and the stimulating environment in his lab during those years. Sincere condolences to the family.
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