Thomas Ulrich Leonard Biber

1928 - 2025

Thomas Ulrich Leonard Biber

December 29, 1928 - November 29, 2025

Thomas Ulrich Leonard Biber, aged 96, of Richmond, VA, passed away in Albany, CA, on November 29, 2025. Born on December 29, 1928 in Zurich, Switzerland, Thomas was a renowned scientist and a loving spouse, father, and grandfather. Thomas received his medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1954, his research M.D. from the University of Bern Medical School in 1956, and was admitted to the Board of Internal Medicine in Switzerland in 1960. In the 1950s, he also served as a medical doctor in the alpine troops of the Swiss Army, reaching the level of Lieutenant. He pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen in 1960-61 before moving to the United States for a postdoctoral position at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. After working at Harvard Medical School as a researcher, he joined the faculty at Yale Medical School in 1967 as an assistant, and then associate, professor of physiology. In 1975, he joined the Department of Physiology at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he served as a professor until his retirement in 2005. He conducted cutting-edge research that developed drug treatments for high-blood pressure and for kidney disorders, and that expanded our knowledge about the functioning of kidneys and the transportation of molecules across cell membranes in the human body. He was an accomplished climber and outdoor athlete. He summited tall peaks in Switzerland, hiked long wilderness backpacking trips in Scandinavia, and helped train the Swiss Olympic ski teams in 1956 and 1960. He was devoted to his wife, Margaret Biber, and they were married for over fifty years. He kept close connections with his family in Switzerland, regularly visiting, hiking, and skiing there. He is survived by his sister, Roxana Nagosky; by his son, Eric Biber; his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Allison; and his grandchild, Emilia Grace Allison-Biber; and by his nephew and nieces, Suzanne Singeisen, Sylvia Gilgen, Dieter von Schulthess, Barbara Biber, Cathy Biber, Madeleine Biber, Alice Biber, Charlotte Biber, and Anne Nagosky. His loss will be felt by his family and friends.