Robert Lewis Letsinger, PhD
July 31, 1921 to May 26, 2014


Robert Lewis Letsinger, PhD passed away peacefully on May 26, 2014 (Memorial Day) in his Seattle, Washington home at the age of 92. He will be remembered in the scientific community for his groundbreaking contributions to DNA research. But among his family, friends, students and colleagues he will be remembered most for his warmth and humor, his quiet energy and enthusiasm for greeting life's challenges, and his ease in expressing gratitude for the life he had lived and was living in a given moment.


Robert (Bob) was born on July 31, 1921 to Reed Alexander and Etna Letsinger in Bloomfield, Indiana, and grew up in a close-knit family with his twin brother and three other siblings. When he was a sophomore in high school he moved to Bloomington, Indiana, where he co-edited the school newspaper with his then dancing partner, later his life partner, Dorothy Thompson. He married Dorothy in 1943, and together they raised a family of three children.


Robert graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1943, and earned his PhD in organic chemistry from there in 1945. During the war he carried out research at MIT with the Rubber Reserve Corporation and contributed to the development of an effective new method for preparing synthetic rubber.


In 1946, Robert joined the Chemistry Department faculty at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he spent the next fifty years fulfilling a productive and innovative academic career. He was known among students and colleagues for a respectful collaborative approach to teaching, and a willingness to take risks in unexplored areas of research.


His research focused on developing solid phase methods of synthesizing DNA, which provided a foundation for new approaches to medical research. On the basis of these methods, he served on several medical advisory boards, including Gilead Sciences as a consultant with their HIV research. After retiring from teaching at Northwestern, he co-founded the bio-tech company, Nanosphere, which uses his DNA research for the development of medical diagnostic tools.


His awards are numerous, and include the first Guggenheim Fellow award for research in Chemistry (1956), a Japan for Promotion of Science Fellowship (1978), the Rosenstiel Award for Contributions in the Basic Medical Sciences (1985), the first Northwestern University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award (1987), the Humboldt U.S. Senior Scientist Award (1988), American Chemical Society A.C. Cope Scholar Award (1993), honorary Doctor of Science from Acadia University in Canada (1993), and the B.F. Goodrich Collegiate Inventors Award (1997). Robert served on a number of editorial boards and committees for the National Institute of Health. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1986 for "pioneering research...that provides the base for the synthesis of gene fragments that has facilitated rapid development of molecular biology" and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1988.


Robert traveled extensively, both professionally and for pleasure. When he received the Guggenheim award in 1956 to conduct research abroad, he elected Heidelberg, Germany, and took his family to live there for the year. While his children were growing up, he took the family on a number of summer camping trips in mountains and parks around the country. After they were grown, he and his wife took regular golfing vacations with friends, and traveled for pleasure to Greece, the Galapagos, Hawaii and Alaska. Dorothy accompanied him on several of his professional trips, with destinations including Japan, Thailand and India. When she passed away in 2010, Robert moved to Seattle, Washington to be closer to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren on the west coast.


At different times in his life Robert enjoyed playing basketball, riding horses, playing the flute, painting and photography, traveling, hiking, dancing, playing bridge and perfecting his golf swing. He enjoyed mentoring students. He enjoyed taking risks and tackling challenging problems in his research. He enjoyed his family and close friends. He enjoyed being alive.


Robert is predeceased by his wife, Dorothy Letsinger (2010); daughter, Rita Louise Letsinger (1968); grandson, Stith Letsinger (1994), sister, Catherine Millett ( 2008); brother, John Letsinger (1951); and twin brother, Richard Letsinger (2007). He is survived by his son, Reed Letsinger; daughter, Sue Letsinger; granddaughter, Kirsten Edwards; grandson, Brandon Letsinger; great-grandsons Reed, Dillon and Jack Peter Edwards; sister, Elizabeth Arendshorst; as well as the many others whose lives he touched.