Gilbert S. Greenwald—Mentor and Friend
Gilbert S. Greenwald was born in 1927 in New York City. His parents were Morris and Celia Greenwald. He grew up in the Bronx and at age 16 commenced his college studies at the City College of New York. At age 17, following his mother's death, Gil joined the U.S. Navy and served stateside through and after World War II.
His military service qualified him for GI Bill benefits, which allowed him to attend the University of California at Berkeley, where he received both an A.B. (with honors) in 1949 and Ph.D. in 1954—the latter in zoology with Howard Bern. He then received a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Institute/Johns Hopkins University with Drs. George W. Corner and Arpad Csapo.
In 1956, Gil joined the faculty at the University of Washington School of Medicine as Instructor and subsequently advanced to Assistant Professor of Anatomy. During his five-year period at this institution, Gil published 13 peer-reviewed papers as sole or senior author.
In 1961, Gil was recruited to the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he held the Endowed Chair for Human Reproduction (1961–1975) and was named Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as Assistant Professor in Anatomy. Gil remained at Kansas until the day of his death—first as Associate and then full Professor (1964) in Anatomy and Physiology, as Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology (1977–1993), as University Distinguished Professor in Reproduction, and as Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
During his 45 years of scientific productivity, Gil published 269 papers, an average of six per year. Nearly all of his research focused on ovarian physiology—in particular, follicular development—but included studies on a wide range of female reproductive physiology. His studies included several species, but his favorite was the golden Syrian hamster.
Greenwald’s lab was an exciting mixture of undergraduate, medical and graduate students, postdocs, and visiting faculty from around the world. He trained 50 graduate students and postdocs, many who have established their own laboratories and are chairs of academic or clinical departments in eight different countries. Although Gil was always keenly interested in how studies were progressing with each individual, he rarely gave advice on experimental design and allowed each person to find his or her own way. Support for his research from NIH was focused on the ovary, but he allowed each person in his lab to pursue his or her own interests. I was interested in neuroendocrine control of reproduction, which he thought was a passing fad. He was very surprised when a paper with one of his students, Conwell Anderson, on autoradiographic analysis of estradiol uptake in the pituitary and brain became one of his most cited publications!
Gil Greenwald was an extremely supportive mentor; those of us who were fortunate to continue our professional relationship with him after we left his laboratory could always count on his support for our advancement through the academic profession. Many of his trainees continue to attend the annual meeting of the SSR (clearly Gil’s favorite society) and we feel a deep sense of loss now that he is no longer physically present.
Gil Greenwald was one of the founding members of the SSR. Shortly after I joined his lab in 1969, I inquired about attending a meeting to learn about competitive protein-binding assays. Gil told me it would be a waste of my time and that I should attend the SSR meeting in Davis. I attended that meeting, which was the second meeting of the Society, and have been to most of them since. Gil was excited about the SSR because of the attention and consideration given by the Society to trainees. In addition to his service on many of the committees in the Society, Gil served as the fifth president in 1971, and as editor of Biology of Reproduction from 1975 to 1977. The SSR honored his service to the society, its journal, and to the scientific community with the Distinguished Service Award in 1988. For his scientific contributions, he received the highest award of the Society, the Carl G. Hartman Award, in 1993.
Gil Greenwald loved humor and was a master jokester, and many evenings were spent in this endeavor at SSR. Gil once sent a list of punchlines to Bruce Murphy, asking if he could recognize all the jokes. When Bruce succeeded, he received the Greenwald Award, comprising a ribbon and a free lunch in Kansas City. Gil told Bruce that there were many individuals who received the Hartmann Award and the Nobel Prize, but that Bruce should feel special since the Greenwald Award was awarded only once. The award was a longstanding joke, but it reflected Gil’s sense of humor and his sense of collegiality and camaraderie with other members of the SSR.
In 1950, while he was a graduate student at Berkeley, Gil met and married Pola Gorsky. They would have celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary but for Gil’s death on August 26, 2004.
Gil is survived by Pola, three children, and five grandchildren.
Outside of science, Gil's passions were reading, classical music, movies, travel, and, most of all, his family. He was truly a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather.
I am grateful to Pola Greenwald for much of the personal information included in this tribute to Gil.
Reid L. Norman
Professor and Chair
Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience
School of Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Lubbock, TX 79430