Dr. Johan Hultin

1924 - 2022

Dr. Johan Viking Hultin

Dr. Johan Viking Hultin, dubbed "the virus hunter" by Sports Illustrated in 2020, passed away peacefully at his home in Walnut Creek, CA, on January 22. He was 97 years old.

Described as "part Indiana Jones, part That-guy-who-thrives-at-every-damn-sport-he-tries," Hultin was a well-respected pathologist and outdoorsman, who gained national recognition for his critical contribution to decoding the secrets of the 1918 influenza pandemic. During two expeditions to the remote village of Brevig, Alaska, first as a 25-year-old graduate student and then as a 72-year-old retiree, Hultin managed to excavate frozen lung tissues from an influenza victim buried in the permafrost. His innovative work helped scientists genetically sequence the virus and led to the ground-breaking understanding that the virus had originated in birds and mutated to humans.

When not practicing medicine, Hultin pursued many interests. He developed ways to improve automotive safety and won both a large grant and recognition from the U.S. Department of Transportation for his work. An avid hiker and mountain climber, in 1982 he was the oldest person ever to ski China's Mustagh Ata mountain. Hultin was also a craftsman; he built a replica of Vastveitloftet, a 1325 A.D. Norwegian loft house, in Bear Valley in California's Sierra Nevada.

A native of Stockholm, Hultin attended Uppsala University before immigrating to the United States in 1949 with his first wife, Gunvor, to study at the University of Iowa. After earning an M.S. in microbiology and an M.D. there, Hultin gained his credentials in pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He then settled in California, where he worked as a surgical pathologist at several hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, including St Mary's Hospital in San Francisco and Los Gatos Community Hospital. The University of Iowa gave him a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000 and an Honorary Doctor of Science in 2009.

Hultin is survived by his devoted wife of 36 years, Eileen Barbara; his three children, Peder Hultin, Anita Hultin, and Ellen Swensen; three stepdaughters, Christine Peck, Karen Hill, and Deborah Kenealy; 12 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Daughter Viveca Murphy predeceased him.