In memoriam: William Henry Welch Jr.
William Henry Welch Jr., an emeritus faculty member at the University of Nevada–Reno, died in hospice June 3 of Parkinson’s disease and cancer. He was 80.
Welch, known to friends as Bill, was born in 1940 in Hollywood, California, to William Henry Sr. and Lola Ellsworth Welch. The family moved to Altadena, where Welch spent years enjoying the beauty of nature and the surrounding parks, as well as the Pacific surf.
He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor’s in biochemistry and met his future wife, Marcy Delaney. After graduation, Welch headed to the University of Kansas to earn his Ph.D. He and Marcy wed in 1965. The couple next moved with their son William III to Boston for Welch’s postdoctoral fellowship at Brandeis University.
Welch later was offered a tenure-track professorship in the University of Nevada–Reno’s biochemistry department, which he took. At Reno, he conducted decades of research and served as a biochemistry adviser in the School of Medicine’s National Institute of Health–sponsored undergraduate research program.
Welch is most noted for his use of computational techniques to study the molecular basis for the interaction of ryanoids with ryanodine receptors and their related biological function. His molecular modeling aided in efforts beyond this system to evaluate the structural–functional relationship of other proteins, such as hormones and enzymes, including those found in the Mojave rattlesnake venom.
said that Welch had a sincere love for the beauty of the natural world and often took his family on trips in the car or RV to national parks. He served as a skiing coach at the Sky Tavern just outside Reno and educated others as a member of the West Truckee Meadows Citizens Advisory Board, during which time he advocated for the development of West Reno to conserve and preserve access to those public lands.
He is survived by his wife, Marcy; children Bill, Deborah, Emily and Gregory; grandsons Colin, Gabriel and Tristan; and his brother David.
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we鈥檒l send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in People
People highlights or most popular articles
ASBMB names 2025 fellows
麻豆传媒色情片 and 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology honors 24 members for their service to the society and accomplishments in research, education, mentorship, diversity and inclusion and advocacy.
When Batman meets Poison Ivy
Jessica Desamero had learned to love science communication by the time she was challenged to explain the role of DNA secondary structure in halting cancer cell growth to an 8th-grade level audience.
The monopoly defined: Who holds the power of science communication?
鈥淎t the official competition, out of 12 presenters, only two were from R2 institutions, and the other 10 were from R1 institutions. And just two had distinguishable non-American accents.鈥�
In memoriam: Donald A. Bryant
He was a professor emeritus at Penn State University who discovered how cyanobacteria adapt to far-red light and was a member of the 麻豆传媒色情片 and 麻豆传媒色情片 Biology for over 35 years.
鈥痀es, I have an accent 鈥� just like you
When the author, a native Polish speaker, presented her science as a grad student, she had to wrap her tongue around the English term 鈥渇luorescence cross-correlation microscopy.鈥�
Professorships for Booker; scholarship for Entzminger
Squire Booker has been appointed to two honorary professorships at Penn State University. Inayah Entzminger received a a BestColleges scholarship to support their sixth year in the biochemistry Ph.D. program at CUNY.