Senior Physiologists' News
Letter to Allan Hoffman

Donald J. Marsh writes: “Thank you for the invitation to share some thoughts on the occasion of my 70th birthday. It is an interesting time. I served for 15 years as chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the USC School of Medicine, and then was Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences at Brown University for 10 years. In addition to a long and satisfying career in physiology I held some form of administrative responsibility for 25 years. Now I have no one to oversee but myself. It is a startling change, but more than welcome.

“With the days as administrator behind me I decided to test the question whether all those years spent running things had inflicted permanent damage to my intellect. The experiment was to attempt a return to science. Having begun this, I realized that I could not make a detached judgment about the outcome; someone else will have to decide. The referees for a couple of papers in the AJP have no doubt reached a conclusion already. I have returned to my interest in the regulation of renal blood flow. I no longer have a laboratory, but I appear to have retained some skills in modeling the problem. I benefit in this effort from several wonderful collaborators who have been very generous of their time and effort. My closest collaborators work in Denmark, and I greatly enjoy the opportunity they provide to visit and work. Our paradigm is nonlinear dynamics.

“I received the most generous tribute in the form of a research symposium organized by several of my colleagues and former students. The all day affair took place in San Diego in 2003, just before the start of EB. The science was exciting, the symposium was very well attended, and it was one of the most moving experiences of my life. The speakers, many of whom had worked with me, outlined the trajectory of my career in research, which I very much enjoyed. The day reaffirmed for me the conclusion that the act of teaching research to young scientists and nurturing their careers is the most valuable contribution we make, and the most rewarding. Later that weekend the Renal Section of the APS honored me by bestowing the Robert W. Berliner Award for Excellence in Renal Research. Bob Berliner was of course an esteemed physiologist with many accomplishments in research, and he educated a generation of future leaders in renal physiology. He was also a medical school dean, another role in which he excelled, and I enjoyed that kindred aspect of the award.

“I have few words of wisdom. Physiology has provided me with the most satisfying career I can imagine, and I recommend it without reservation! I hope to continue contributing to it. Administration is not everyone’s interest, but it is important, it is important that it be well done, and with a goal in mind. I enjoyed it. I retired as dean with a sense of real achievement and progress for the Brown Medical School, and with the realization that no one understood better than I how far the institution had progressed, and what problems were left unresolved. There were many kind words of gratitude when I retired, but in the end, the most important judgment was my own.

“This letter has gone on longer than it should. I hope to see you next April at EB.”

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