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 (Massachusetts), North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known ...

– 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 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...

) was an American radiobiologist,

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 university, private research university in Medford, Massachusetts, Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, Massachusetts, Grafton, as well as Talloire ...

with a B.S. in 1950 and from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

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. Vari ...

'' chromosomes" was supervised by Karl Sax. From 1953 to 1966 Wolff worked in the biology division of

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

(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 university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

(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 an ...

and radiology from 1966 to 1996, when he retired as professor emeritus. As the successor to Harvey M. Patt, 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 energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear we ...

's Health and Environmental Research Advisory Committee (HERAC). From 1996 to 2000 he worked at a scientific laboratory in Hiroshima, Japan 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 Ernest Lawrence, a scientist who helped elevate United States, American physics to the status of world leader in the field. Lawrence was the inventor of the cyclotron, an parti ...

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 American cell biologists Radiobiologists Radiation health effects researchers People from Peabody, Massachusetts