[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  TRIBUTE TO THE LATE DR. HOWARD TEMIN

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to the life 
and work of an outstanding human being--Dr. Howard Temin of the 
University of Wisconsin, who passed away at his home on the evening of 
February 9, after a long struggle with lung cancer. Dr. Temin was one 
of the world's foremost cancer and virology experts, winning a Nobel 
Prize in 1975 for his work in those areas.
  Dr. Temin was the quintessential scientist. He was also a man with an 
enormous breadth and depth of knowledge who wore well the mantle of the 
Renaissance tradition. As a world traveler, he studied the history and 
customs of the many lands and people he visited. He was also an avid 
gardener and amateur botanist. He constantly surprised learned 
colleagues in all fields with his sophisticated knowledge of their 
disciplines. He was a marvelous conversationalist, but also an avid 
listener. And on most Saturday mornings, he could be found in his 
synagogue, where he delighted in learning and discussing the Torah--or 
Old Testament.
  Howard Martin Temin was born in Philadelphia in 1934. His father was 
a lawyer and his mother was active in educational affairs. He became 
interested in biology and research at an early age by attending a 
summer program for high school students at the Jackson Lab in Bar 
Harbor, ME, and spending a summer at Philadelphia's Institute for 
Cancer Research. Amazingly, he published his first scientific paper at 
age 18.
  He attended Swarthmore College, just outside Philadelphia and in a 
remarkable feat of prognostication, the yearbook from his senior year 
described him as, ``one of the future giants in experimental biology.''
  Dr. Temin went on to earn his Ph.D. at the California Institute of 
Technology where he began a longtime collaboration with Prof. Renato 
Dulbecco. In 1960, he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin 
as a professor of biology. He began his career there as many junior 
professors do, in a small office in the basement under the steam pipes.
  From these humble beginnings he began a lifelong exploration into the 
relationships between viruses and cancer. He research into viruses 
started with chickens. He discovered, that in fact there were only 
tenuous links between viruses and cancer and it was during this process 
that he stood one of the essential dogmas of biological science on its 
head.
  It has always been thought that DNA, the coded molecule that carries 
genetic information, could produce RNA, a simpler genetic molecule, but 
that RNA could not produce DNA. Through his research, Dr. Temin 
discovered that in fact RNA could make DNA. This discovery and the 
discovery of reverse transcriptase, the enzyme that makes it possible 
for RNA to make DNA, got him on the cover of Newsweek in 1971, earned 
him the Nobel Prize in 1975 and sent the world of genetics spinning in 
an entirely new direction.
  The enzyme Dr. Temin discovered is one of the most important elements 
of modern genetic research. It was critical to the discovery of the HIV 
virus and is at the core of much of the expanding biotechnology 
industry. Reverse transcriptase is used today in some of the most 
important research being done on cancer and AIDS.
  It is one of the most important tools geneticists have to alter DNA 
and discover more about the mysteries of life and death. The enzyme has 
been used to create human insulin and drugs that can stop heart 
attacks. Reverse transcriptase has led to the saving of countless 
lives. Its use is a fitting and eternal legacy for Dr. Temin.
  In addition to winning the Nobel Prize in 1975, with Professor 
Dulbecco and David Baltimore of MIT, Dr. Temin was a winner of the 
Albert Lasker Award, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 
served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, was a 
key advisor to many groups concerned with AIDS research and the 
development of an AIDS vaccine, and was awarded the National Medal of 
Science in 1992 by President George Bush.
  But even with all of this fame and recognition he never lost sight of 
who, what or where he was. He commuted to his office by bicycle and 
attended community events with his friends and family. Even with all 
the accolades, he did his research in an unpretentious lab on the fifth 
floor of the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research on the UW campus.
  He kept his Nobel Prize diploma in a desk drawer, telling a reporter 
in 1990, that he hoped it ``would not disrupt my work.'' He was a 
tireless instructor who demanded excellence and perfection from his 
students and his colleagues.
  One of his earliest theories that was later proved and proved again 
was that there was a link between cigarette smoking and certain kinds 
of cancer. He was an ardent antismoker and in 1975 after being 
presented with his Nobel Prize by Sweden's King Carl Gustav XVI, after 
he bowed to the king he turned to members of the audience and 
admonished them for smoking during the ceremony.
  In 1980, he was excused from jury duty in an important trial after 
discovering that jurors would be allowed to smoke in the jury room 
during deliberations. He objected to being confined in such a small 
space with smokers for so long.
  In 1992, Dr. Temin contracted adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer 
not related to cigarette smoking. He fought the disease valiantly for 
the next 2 years, while continuing his research, his teaching and his 
efforts to curb smoking. He died of the disease at his home in Madison 
on February 9. He was 59.
  Dr. Temin is survived by his wife Rayla Greenberg Temin, a geneticist 
at the University of Wisconsin, and two daughters, Mariam Temin of San 
Francisco and Sarah Temin of Berkeley.
  Another of the many things for which the people of Wisconsin owe Dr. 
Temin thanks, was that he chose to stay at the University of Wisconsin 
even though an entire world of opportunities lay open before him. In an 
age when internationally known academics and researchers are often 
lured away like free agent baseball players, Dr. Temin remained 
committed to the excellence and traditions of the University of 
Wisconsin. His long tenure at the university encouraged other 
scientists to come to Wisconsin and to stay. Our university is 
recognized as one of the top public institutions of higher learning in 
the world and the commitment of people like Dr. Temin is a big part of 
the reason why.
  The death of Dr. Temin is a tremendous loss not only to his family 
and the University of Wisconsin, but to all of us. Now more than ever 
we could have benefited from his intellect and wise counsel as we 
grapple with the twin plagues of cancer and AIDS. His groundbreaking 
work has provided some of the most important tools for fighting these 
diseases and the thousands of people he instructed are now using those 
tools to continue his work. And yet, that work would proceed faster and 
all of us would feel better if we knew that Howard Temin was still 
riding his bicycle, thinking of new solutions to old problems and on 
his way back to the lab. He will be missed.
  I yield the floor.

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