Gerald Maurice Edelman.

Abstract

Professor Gerald Maurice Edelman died in La Jolla, California, on May 17, 2014, at the age of 84. His wife, Maxine Morrison Edelman, and three children, Judith, Eric, and David, survive him. We, of course, remember him for his brilliant scientific career. However, I have received many comments from people who, upon hearing of his death, remarked along lines similar to these: “It’s the end of an era”; “They don’t make them like this anymore”; “We shall not soon see another”; and “The world is more empty now.” Gerald Edelman in his Army uniform, August 1955 at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Gerald M. Edelman (1929–2014). In his teens, Edelman was conflicted as to whether he should become a professional violinist or pursue medicine. As happens so often with mothers, his stepped in and with the turn of a phrase decided his fate. She told him that a performing musician was not a proper career and was more “like juggling.” Gerry replied that it certainly wasn’t juggling, to which his mother countered “I have two words for you—Jascha Heifetz!” After receiving his MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954, he became a house officer at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He then served as a Captain in the US Army Medical Corps at the American Hospital in Paris. (Leave it to Gerry to get stationed in Paris.) In 1957, Edelman was accepted as a graduate student at Rockefeller Institute, and he received his PhD in physical chemistry in 1960. Because of … [↵][1]1Email: rlerner{at}scripps.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1