Dr. William Robert Brinkley

1936 - 2020

Dr. William Robert ("Bill") Brinkley, passed away on Wednesday, November 10, 2020, following declining health in recent years. He was 84 years old. Bill was born in Weldon, Texas, on May 31, 1936, to Lee and Roxie Saline (Bass) Brinkley. Bill spent his early years in and around Conroe and Willis. Bill was the youngest of five siblings.

Bill earned his undergraduate and Master's degrees in Biology from Sam Houston State University, his PhD at Iowa State, and completed post-doctoral training at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he taught until 1972. At UTMB, Bill became a professor and Director of the Cancer Center (1975-77). At Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Bill then served as Professor of Cell Biology until 1985. Bill moved to the University of Alabama, Birmingham in 1986, where he became Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology and Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Center. Bill returned to Baylor in 1991 to serve as a professor and department Vice Chairman, VP for Graduate Sciences, and Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Bill concluded his career as Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School.

Bill was an Institute of Medicine member and served as President of the American Society for Cell Biology, the International Federation for Cell Biology, and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. He published over 150 peer-reviewed articles. He served on numerous journal editorial boards and was Editor-in-Chief of Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton. Bill received awards including a Merit Award from the NIH and, in 2014, the E.B. Wilson Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the American Society for Cell Biology.

Bill's research focused on characterizing how human cells divide and defining the mitotic apparatus that separates the genome. He also made key contributions in developmental biology. Throughout his career, Bill touched the lives of numerous scientists and students as a collaborator, mentor, and friend. Bill was a passionate naturalist and enjoyed hunting, fishing, nature photography, and taxidermy.

Bill was preceded in death by his father Lee, mother Roxie, sister Doris, brother Lee ("Sonny"), sister Helen, and brother Gordon ("Buck"). He is survived by his wife Shirley of Houston and son Kevin of Oakland, California. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, friends and colleagues.

A visitation will be held from 5-7pm on Friday, November 20 at Metcalf Funeral Home, 1801 E. White Oak Terrace, Conroe, TX 77304. A graveside service will be held at 10am on Saturday, November 21 at the County Line Cemetery, FM 3081 and Brown Road, Willis, TX. 77378. In the event of inclement weather, the graveside service will be moved to the chapel at Metcalf Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages those wishing to make charitable contributions in Bill's memory to donate to the Alzheimer's Association (alz.org), the County Line Cemetery Association (P.O. Box 1635 Conroe, Texas 77305), or a charity of their choice.