ACADEMIA
I have known Jerry for over 50 years. First as my boss, then as my major professor, mentor, colleague and friend. I went to work for Jerry when I was a first year veterinary student in 1963. I worked in the White Mountain Research Station and later in Jerry's UCD research lab. I cleaned a ton of pipettes and glassware. During my second year he said he would like me to work on the development of some new tests of renal function. He gave me some references and asked me to come back with an initial plan by the end of the week. And so it went. Not a plan laid out for me to follow, but an opportunity to explore what I could do. Mind you, he monitored things closely, but I felt I had been given some responsibility and trust.
I was in veterinary practice when Jerry called to tell me that he had some NIH support for a graduate student, and was I interested? That call would change my life. I completed the graduate program and was later fortunate to find a position at UCD in the large animal clinic.
While I was a graduate student here, the American College of Veterinary Pathologists decided to have an examination for a new specialty in Clinical Pathology. No one was grandfathered into this specialty. You had to take and pass the examination. Jerry and I flew to Atlanta to take this, the first Board examination. I asked Jerry why he was taking the examination. He was a recognized expert and the coauthor of a leading textbook on the subject. His answer has always stayed with me. He said he was not taking the examination for himself but for his graduate students. If this specialty became widely accepted and his future graduate students wanted to become Board Certified, they needed to be trained by a Board Certified mentor. Fortunately, we both passed.
Once long ago, Jerry was telling me about his experience in the Army. He was sent to Japan after the war. He said: "Can you imagine. I was a 19 or 20 year old. I was in Japan, and I was running a railroad". He had been put in charge of a section of a small railway line in a rural part of Japan. He was the interface between the authorities and the engineers on the locomotives. He said it was wonderful time, and he was in a position to do some good.
Jerry always had excitement in discovery, a willingness to try new things and an optimistic approach to life, science and politics. He did not dwell on the past but looked to the future with hope. He was a good friend and mentor. I often found myself using phrases he had used when I was talking to my residents. When facing a problem or planning ahead he would say "Line your ducks up. Boom. Boom. Boom." I will miss him, but I am so glad that I was able to share some of life's journey with him. His is certainly a life worth celebrating.
Gary Carlson
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