The 3 Ws of Bayard T. Storey - Wisdom, wine, and wit.

Abstract

Bayard T, Storey (July 13, 1932-June 4, 2017) spent his academic career at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After training in chemistry (B.S. in Chemistry from Harvard University; M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University), he spent several years working on ion-exchange resins at Rohm and Haas in Philadelphia. Only in 1965 did he return to academia as a 33-year-old post-doctoral fellow, with Britton Chance at the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation for Medical Physics at the University of Pennsylvania. Bayard's initial interests in the mitochondrial respiratory chain lead to his recognition that sperm, with mitochondria tethered to the flagellum, provided a unique model. Thus began the parts of his career with which we are most familiar: studies of sperm physiology that encompassed bioenergetics, membrane lipid peroxidation, cryopreservation, and interaction with eggs. He brought the approaches he learned at the Johnson Foundation, where he focused on time resolving mitochondrial electron transfer events, to reproductive physiology. Today we routinely use fluorescent probes to follow events in gametes; however in the 1970s, Bayard, along with Henry Lardy (University of Wisconsin), were among the first to develop real-time assays to study fertilization-related events in living sperm. The reproductive biology community recognized Bayard in many ways, including electing him to organize a Gordon Conference on Fertilization and the Activation of Development and honoring him with the Distinguished Andrologist Award from the American Society of Andrology. Those of us who worked with him, were trained by him, or knew him (there were many) also remember his enthusiasm, wit, charm, and how he generously gave his time to help others. Such assistance could be with a particular experimental issue or a spirited and witty debate of controversies in our field or politics, often around a table with wonderful wines. He was particularly concerned with helping young investigators begin and advance their careers and was a strong advocate for the funding and support of reproductive biology. He is sorely missed, and will forever be remembered. Harvey Florman • University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester MA George Gerton • University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia PA Gregory Kopf • fhi360, Durham NC Pablo Visconti • University of Massachusetts, Amherst MA