JERARD HURWITZ

HURWITZ--Dr. Jerard. aka Jerry, Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Jerry, Papa Jerry, Pop, died at home January 24. Born in 1928, a native New Yorker from "good Russian peasant stock," he attended DeWitt Clinton High in the Bronx. He supported progressive politics and social justice from the local to the global; was deeply ethical; and voiced strong and well-informed opinions about everything. He studied at Indiana University (BA Chemistry, 1949) and Case Western Reserve (PhD Biochemistry, 1953); and was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the National Medical Research Council, UK, and the National Institutes of Health (1953-1956). He taught Microbiology at Washington University (1956-1958) and NYU (1958-1963). From 1963-1984, he was Professor of Molecular Biology and Chair of Developmental Biology and Cancer at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. From 1984 until retiring in April 2018, he was Sloan-Kettering Institute Professor and Vice Chair of the Sloan-Kettering Institute (1991-2003), and Head of the Wm. Randolph Hearst Laboratory of Radiation Biology (1989-2018). Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1968) and the National Academy of Sciences (1974), he received the Eli Lilly Award in Biochemistry (1962), Guggenheim Fellowship Award (1968), Institut Pasteur Hazen Lectureship (1972), and the New York Academy of Science's Louis and Bert Freeman Foundation Prize for Research in Biochemistry (1982). Passionately dedicated to research science, he was one of the discoverers of RNA polymerase, the enzyme that transcribes DNA into messenger RNA. His pivotal studies led to a general understanding of how the genome is replicated in dividing cells. This work helped enable such advances in genetic engineering as the ability to splice and copy DNA. His research helped clarify how DNA is copied during cell growth and division, and shed light on the mechanisms that regulate the cell cycle. He mentored many students who went on to impressive careers. He was exacting and suffered no fools; was encouraging and supportive; and was admired and cherished by so many. The only thing he loved more than his work was his family. He married Muriel Gould in 1950, with whom he had two beloved daughters, Jodie Hurwitz of Dallas, TX, an electrophysiologist, and Deena Hurwitz (Doug Ford) of Charlottesville, VA, a human rights lawyer. They divorced in 1981. He had three grandchildren with Muriel: Emma, Alejo and Chela. He married Dr. Ora Rosen in 1981, who died in 1990. Through Ora, he had stepsons Gideon Rosen (Lisa Eckstrom) and Isaac Rosen (Cynthia Cole), and grandchildren Grace, Simon, and Samuel. Jerry and his third wife, Mary Soyer, had been together since 1991. They shared a love of dogs and cats - most recently, Mandy, Frank, Ernest, and Tabatha. Through Mary, he had stepchildren David Lieber (Abby Banker), Joseph Lieber (Anne Adams), Katherine Lieber (Katherine Biers), and Kayla Soyer-Stein (Ricardo Almonte), and grandchildren Henry, Lila, Travis, Aryeh, Marcel, Raphael, Toby, and Freddie. His treasured family included his sister, Zella Luria (died June 2018), nephew Dan Luria (Janet Loesche), grandnephew Nick, and cherished grandniece Anna. Jerry was never too busy for family, students, friends, and even friends of friends. He was the dad who wrestled all the kids at Stony Beach. He played tennis into his mid-80s. He read voluminously. He told everyone - his daughters, grandchildren, spouses, friends and especially colleagues - when he disagreed with them. And his support was boundless. He lives on in our hearts and memories. Donations in his name may be made to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Memorial service to be announced.