Frank Michio Yatsu, MD

Abstract

Frank Michio Yatsu, MD, died unexpectedly but peacefully during a nap on Friday, March 9, 2012; he was 79 years old. He had been recovering from complications stemming from a kidney transplant he received several years ago. Frank had retired last year becoming Professor Emeritus of the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston but was still coming to work several hours a week to attend conferences, work on manuscripts, oversee his laboratory, and other administrative duties. Frank Michio Yatsu, MD Frank was born in Los Angeles, CA, on November 28, 1932, the son of Frank K. and Iwao Yatsu who had immigrated to the United States from Matsushima, Japan, in 1906. His family had owned a bank in Japan but Frank's parents were forced to work as “domestics” in Los Angeles and later in Cleveland. During World War II, the Yatsu family was relocated to an internment camp in Arizona. His older brother fought in a Japanese–American unit in North Africa and Italy where he was wounded. These experiences actually strengthened Frank's desire to become integrated into the fabric of American society. Throughout his education and early career, Frank was often the first Japanese–American to gain positions of prominence, and he was intensely patriotic and proud of his American identity. At the same time, his childhood experiences established a lifelong commitment to tolerance and diversity in all forms. Frank was always an outstanding student and won a full scholarship to Phillips Andover Academy and Brown University where he majored in English literature (he turned down a scholarship to Harvard because he liked the wrestling coach better at Brown). He remained an active alumnus of both institutions throughout his life and was the first Asian American appointed to Brown's Board of Trustees. Wrestling and English …