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Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157–1083
1To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, 1 Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157–1083. E-mail: wsonntag{at}wfubmc.edu
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Joseph Meites, Ph.D., professor of physiology at Michigan State University and pioneer in the field of endocrinology, died on January 31, 2005, at Hospice House of Mid-Michigan, at the age of 91 years. Dr. Meites was born December 22, 1913, in Kishinev, Russia (now Moldavia), and he and his parents immigrated to the United States (St. Joseph, MO) in 1920. He graduated from Junior College in St. Joseph and received B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri. While at the university he met his future wife, Mable, and they were married in 1943. From 1942–46 he served in World War II as a first lieutenant at the 106th General Hospital in Southern England. In 1947, he was appointed assistant professor of physiology at Michigan State University, where he conducted seminal research studies that defined the field of endocrinology and neuroendocrinology. He retired as professor emeritus in 1984.
Dr. Meites was a scholar, scientist, teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend. Throughout his career he influenced and challenged those who knew him, those who read his research studies, and those who followed in his scientific footsteps. He led an incredible life that was noteworthy not only because he was an excellent scientist and mentor but more importantly because of his gifts of sharing his talent and wisdom and setting standards of excellence for all of us.
During his career, Dr. Meites was a pioneer in the field of neuroendocrinology. He was co-founder and first president of the International Society of Neuroendocrinology and served on many national scientific advisory committees, scientific journal editorial boards, and university committees. He was a member of the American Physiological Society, the Endocrine Society, the Neuroendocrine Society, and Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine and served on the council and editorial board.
Dr. Meites received recognition for his contributions to teaching and scientific research, including the Michigan State University Distinguished Faculty Award, the Junior and Senior Sigma Xi awards, the Carl Hartman Award for the study of reproductive physiology, and the Robert H. Williams Distinguished Leadership Award. He received many other citations for his work on the regulation of prolactin secretion, hormonal control of breast cancer, and research on the neuroendocrinology of aging. He was one of the scientists whose research established the foundation for the role of the brain in controlling pituitary hormone secretions that culminated in his colleagues (Roger Guillemin, Andrew Schally, and Rosalyn Yalow) winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1977. Dr. Meites was considered by his students and colleagues as a model of excellence in research, education, and ethical standards.
It is customary for us to assess the value of an individual’s contributions by counting the number of published manuscripts, reviews, book chapters, abstracts at scientific meetings, invited lectures, edited books, and courses taught. In this regard, Dr. Meites was simply outstanding. He published more than 500 papers in scientific journals, wrote 85 chapters in books, and edited six books. He presented innumerable abstracts at scientific meetings and was invited to give many, many lectures around the world.
More than his scientific contributions, Joe will be remembered for mentoring more than 80 students, who will always remember that he and Mable took them in and treated them as family. These students now work throughout the United States and in many places around the world, including Israel, China, Taiwan, South America, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Egypt, India, and Pakistan. To understand what Joe meant to his students, let me describe some of my own experiences as a postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory.
In 1978, I was enrolled in the doctoral program in physiological psychology at Tulane University in New Orleans and was conducting research studies related to the biology of aging. Of course, I wanted to continue my training in Joe’s laboratory, since he was conducting groundbreaking research in the evolving field of neuroendocrinology and aging. I was working at The Endocrine and Polypeptide Laboratory that was part of the VA Hospital and Tulane University, and one of my graduate mentors, Dr. Akira Arimura, graciously introduced us at a scientific conference in New Orleans. Despite the fact that I was intimidated during our first meeting, Joe encouraged me to write a grant for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellowship to support my salary while in his laboratory. Well, I wrote the grant, submitted it, and eventually the pink sheets (what we now call the summary statement) of the grant arrived. The reviews and comments were simply terrible! They were so bad and the comments so caustic that I thought my scientific career (which had barely started) was certainly at an end. I called Joe that day and apologized that I would not be able to come to his laboratory, since the grant could not possibly be funded. He quickly said, "Don’t worry. Come on up. I’ll support you and we’ll rewrite the grant." He then asked how soon I could be in Michigan. I arrived at Michigan State University in a terrible ice storm in December 1978; we rewrote the grant by February, and my first NIH grant was funded later that year.
When I arrived at Joe’s laboratory, there were 18 graduate students/postdoctoral fellows and, considering that environment, the words that come to mind are exciting, dynamic, challenging, vibrant, collegial, and independent. The laboratory was conducting groundbreaking research in three areas: regulation of prolactin secretion, mammary cancer (including the effects of dietary manipulation), and neuroendocrinology of aging. Joe had an extraordinary talent for identifying the key research questions that needed to be addressed and hiring students and postdoctoral fellows who worked hard, worked together, and believed that nothing was beyond their capacity. I wish I knew what key insights he had into attracting great people.
When I was in Joe’s laboratory for a month, one of the senior postdoctoral fellows (Dr. Henry Huang) put my name on a manuscript that was being submitted for publication. I approached him and said that I really didn’t make enough of a contribution to the study to merit co-authorship. Henry turned and said, "I’ve seen your vitae and you need all the help you can get!" Joe’s laboratory was an environment where such collegiality and concern for one another was routine. There was extraordinary freedom—to consider new ideas and conduct studies that would push the field forward. He allowed students to grow, think, and conduct research with a soft, guiding touch. When he and I discussed what types of research studies I should concentrate on, he simply said, "Bill, not much research has been done on growth hormone, somatomedins (insulin-like growth factors), and aging." From that simple statement, I have developed a career and research area that continues today, 25 years later. At this moment, the effects of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor–1 on aging are one of the exciting and challenging areas in the field of aging. I’m still wondering how he knew that this would evolve into such an important topic.
Students who were trained in his laboratory learned to think independently and, with other graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, learned to be productive. He was strict with students regarding knowledge of the literature, general scholarship, and good writing skills. I still remember Joe correcting my grammar and saying (while looking over his glasses), "Bill, the word ‘data’ is plural and it should be written ‘Data are important’ not ‘Data is important.’" I remember that comment still and routinely make that statement to my own students who make that grammatical faux pas.
Joe was always gracious in talking to students from other laboratories and continually challenged students and colleagues with insightful questions. He read and remembered everything. When he rose to ask a question at a scientific meeting, he would praise the speaker for his or her excellent work and then simply ask whether they knew that the same research study was done 10 years earlier ... and then gave the citation! It made me very happy that I wasn’t the speaker and made me realize the importance of good scholarship.
Like many of his students, I have not kept in verbal contact with Joe and Mable as much as I would have liked. Distance separated us but there hasn’t been a week that I haven’t thought of him and what he did for my career. When I talk to my own students, correct their grammar and writing style, challenge their productivity, encourage and support them, and tell them of my experiences with my first grant application, I always think of Joe Meites and what a difference he made in my own life and career.
Most of all, Joe and Mable were surrogate parents to their students and fellows. One of the most thrilling experiences that I had after leaving his laboratory was when Joe would comment on our current research efforts. Several years after leaving his laboratory, he attended a seminar I gave at Michigan State University. Afterward, he walked up and praised the excellence of our research efforts and commented on how our studies pushed the field forward. Then he said, "It was one of the best delivered talks I have heard in some time." That kind of unconditional praise is rare in our field.
One of the profound regrets I have is not sending him a copy of a manuscript that I completed in December 2004 and submitted for publication in January 2005. I was waiting for the completion of the peer review process before showing it to Joe. I’m sure he would have been both excited and proud.
My own experiences are not unique; they are repeated again and again with the many students who passed through his laboratory. We all have our stories and anecdotes, and he took pride in all of us, just as a father takes pride in the accomplishments of his own son or daughter. The respect and admiration that students and postdoctoral fellows had for him were embodied in letters of appreciation placed in bound notebook on his retirement from Michigan State University. Many years later, a 90th birthday party was held for him at the Kellogg Center at Michigan State University. At least 35 students returned to thank him personally for the gifts that he shared and for helping develop their careers. It was impressive that students came from around the world for an event that lasted only 2 hrs. Each of us recounted some of our experiences in his laboratory and his contribution to our own lives.
Joe’s life is a wonderful example of excellence in mentoring young scientists. He challenged each of us to reach our full potential, and his insatiable curiosity was contagious. His life was a gift that will be cherished by all who knew him. His scientific accomplishments and his gifts as a scholar, scientist, teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend will always be with us. More importantly, we will never forget who he was as an individual—gracious, kind, loving, supportive, and encouraging.
My wife is currently a principal of an elementary school in North Carolina, and she has a beautifully framed poster on the wall of her office with a saying printed below it. I’m sure many of you have heard or seen it before, but it seems particularly appropriate to Joe’s life and what he meant to all of us:
Some people come into our lives and quickly goSome people move our souls to dance
They awaken in us a new understanding with the
passing whisper of their wisdom
They stay in our lives for a while,
Leave footprints on our heart and we are never, ever
the same
Author Unknown
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