In Memoriam: Charles (Chuck) Crawford Sweeley, Jr. (1930–2012)

Abstract

Journal of Lipid Research Volume 54, 2013 1 Copyright © 2013 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. Chuck Sweeley died in Lansing, Michigan, on September 21, 2012, at the age of 82 after a long battle with a rare form of bladder cancer. He was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on April 15, 1930, where he grew up and attended primary and secondary school. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1955 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, working under the direction of Professor Herbert Carter. After further training with Evan Horning at the National Institutes of Health, Chuck took a position in the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh in 1960. He was promoted to Professor in 1966. He moved to the Department of Biochemistry at Michigan State University in 1968 and spent the rest of his career there. He served as Chairperson of the department at MSU from 1979 to 1985 and was a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University when he retired in 1992.( 1 ) During his career, he made major scientifi c contributions to the fi elds of sphingolipids and biomedical mass spectrometry. Here, we summarize and highlight some of his accomplishments, which are described in greater detail in a recent review ( 2 ). Chuck’s illustrious research career began during his Ph.D. training. His Ph.D. thesis was on the chemistry of antibiotics, one of the major interests of the Carter laboratory. After graduation, Chuck switched his interest to the chemistry and biochemistry of sphingolipids and glycosphingolipids, stating that “It might seem odd to some that I would devote much of my professional career studying the biochemistry of sphingolipids... because ...my doctoral thesis was entitled “Studies on Streptolidine, a Degradation Product of Streptothricin”....Carter had two laboratories, one for students working on antibiotics and one for students working on sphingosine and sphingolipids. Little did I know that the research being done in the “sphingolipids lab” would stick to me In Memoriam: Charles (Chuck) Crawford Sweeley, Jr. (1930–2012)