Sheldon Wolff (September 22, 1928,

Peabody, Massachusetts Peabody () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 54,481 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Peabody is located in the North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known for its rich industrial his ...

– May 24, 2008,

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census. Mill Valley is located on the western and ...

) was an American

radiobiologist Radiobiology (also known as radiation biology, and uncommonly as actinobiology) is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things, especially health effects of radiation. ...

cytogeneticist Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

, and environmental health expert on mutagenic chemicals.

Biography

He graduated from

Tufts College Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

with a B.S. in 1950 and from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with an M.A. in 1951 and with a Ph.D. in 1953. (This obituary gives an incorrect year of birth for Sheldon Wolff (1928–2008).) His doctoral dissertation "Some aspects of the chemical protection against radiation damage to ''

Vicia faba ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Var ...

'' chromosomes" was supervised by

Karl Sax Karl Sax (November 2, 1892 – October 8, 1973) was an American botanist and geneticist, noted for his research in cytogenetics and the effect of radiation on chromosomes. Early life and education Sax was born in Spokane, Washington in 1892. His ...

. From 1953 to 1966 Wolff worked in the biology division of

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...

(ORNL), where he studied radiation-induced cell damage. At the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It co ...

(UCSF) he was a professor of

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis ...

and radiology from 1966 to 1996, when he retired as professor emeritus. As the successor to

Harvey M. Patt Harvey Milton Patt (August 2, 1918 – November 4, 1982) was an American physiologist, radiation biologist, and cell biologist, who made "important scientific contributions in cell cycle kinetics and tissue repopulation." Education and career Pat ...

, Wolff was from 1982 to 1996 the director of UCSF's Laboratory of Radiobiology and Environmental Health (LREH). During his tenure at UCSF he chaired for nine years the

U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States ...

's Health and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (HERAC). From 1996 to 2000 he worked at a scientific laboratory in

Hiroshima, Japan is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama Prefecture to the e ...

as vice chairman and chief of research of the

Radiation Effects Research Foundation The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) is a joint U.S.-Japan research organization responsible for studying the medical effects of radiation and associated diseases in humans for the welfare of the survivors and all humankind.Introduction ...

. He received the 1973

Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award was established in 1959 in honor of a scientist who helped elevate American physics to the status of world leader in the field. E. O. Lawrence was the inventor of the cyclotron, an accelerator of subatomic par ...

for "research leading to the classic observation that chromosomal damage is subject to metabolic repair processes, and thus laying the foundation for study of genetic repair mechanisms. His incisive cytogentic investigations of dose-effect relationships, dose fractionation, and other modifying." Upon his death Wolff was survived by his widow, two sons, a daughter, and three grandchildren.

Selected publications

* * * * * * * * * * * 1993 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolff, Sheldon 1928 births 2008 deaths Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University alumni University of California, San Francisco faculty Cell biologists Radiobiologists Radiation health effects researchers People from Peabody, Massachusetts