Dr. Harold Weintraub, known to everyone as Hal, wanted to know.

 

Born in Newark, NJ, Hal’s life revolved around sports, including basketball, an activity he would continue to particularly relish throughout his adult life.  Harold was also a pitcher for an all-city high school baseball team, and a football fullback.

 

Hal attended Harvard College, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in 1967.  He then proceeded to the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in 1972.  Hal performed his Ph.D. dissertation research in the laboratory of Howard Holtzer, studying red blood cell development and production (erythropoiesis) in chicken embryos.  His early work contributed significantly to the fields of developmental and cellular biology, yielding numerous peer-reviewed publications and setting the stage for the next chapter in his research.

 

He also studied in Cambridge, England, doing a post-doctoral fellowship in the labs of Sydney Brenner and Francis Crick.  Returning to the United States, he was an assistant professor at Princeton from 1973-77.  In 1978, he joined the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (the “Hutch”), an affiliate of the University of Washington in Seattle.  He became a founding member of the Basic Sciences Division and a professor of genetics.  He remained at the Hutch until he passed away in 1995 from an aggressive form of brain cancer.

 

Hal was the author of more than 130 scientific articles, most of which were published in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals, including the “Big 3” publications (Cell, Science and Nature).  He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and served as editorial advisor for numerous journals.

 

Hal was an innovator who made significant contributions in the field of biological science.  He left behind his beloved wife, Nancy, and two sons, Adam and Josh.

 

“He Wanted to Know”

 

is how his family, friends and colleagues remember him.