Obituary

Brian James Whipp, Ph.D., D.Sc

March 3, 1937 – October 20, 2011

Brian Whipp sadly passed away at the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff, Wales following a short illness. He leaves his children from his first marriage, Laura and Brian, and his wife, Sue.

Brian was born in Tredegar, Wales and, through what was to be a lifelong interest in sport, gained a Diploma in Physical Education at the then Loughborough College in England – the United Kingdom’s foremost Physical Education Training College. He continued his studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville and then at Stanford University where, as a Danforth Fellow, he gained his PhD in Physiology in 1967, under the tutelage of Karlman Wasserman. He then set out on what was to become an illustrious career in physiology, both as a research investigator and a teacher, at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre in Torrance, California, proceeding through the academic ranks to become Professor of Physiology and Medicine and Vice-Chairman of UCLA’s Department of Physiology. In 1992, he returned to the United Kingdom to become Professor and Chairman of the Physiology Department at the University of London’s St George’s Hospital Medical School - from which he retired as Emeritus Professor in 2001. He remained active nonetheless, working from his home in the Welsh village of Crickhowell and also presenting numerous invited lectures worldwide.

His research interests centred on the control of ventilation and pulmonary gas exchange during exercise in health and disease, with special reference to the non-steady state. In addition to more than 300 publications on these topics, he was author or co-author of nine books and monographs, including the influential “Principles of Exercise Testing and Interpretation”. He was also an accomplished teacher, combining scientific rigor with humor, wit and enthusiasm.

In recognition of his services, Brian received many academic honours: a Doctorate of Science by Loughborough University in England in 1982; a Citation Award of the American College of Sports Medicine in 1990; Chairmanship of the Respiratory Commission of the International Union of Physiological Sciences from 1997-2002; the 2002 Joseph B. Wolffe Memorial Lectureship of the American College of Sports Medicine; the 2007 Distinguished Scientist Honor Lectureship of the American College of Chest Physicians; the 2008 American Physiological Society Honor Award (Environmental and Exercise Physiology); the 2010 J-C Yernault Lectureship of the European Respiratory Society; and the 2010 D.B. Dill Lectureship of the American College of Sports Medicine.

But Brian had many other “strings to his bow”, each of which he pursued with the same enthusiasm, zeal and attention-to-detail that characterised his scientific work – literature, philosophy, classical music, jazz and walking in his beloved hills and mountains of The Brecon Beacons.

He is, and will remain, sorely missed.

Tuesday 20 December 2011


Sue Ward said...
From Peter Maud:

I was shocked and very saddened by the news of Brian’s early demise. The last time that I saw him was eighteen months ago in Baltimore where he appeared to be in robust health. Brian and I go back a long way. We played on the Loughborough squash team together for just one year I think in that he was a year or two ahead of me. He was a much better player than me as he ably demonstrated when we were both at an ACSM meeting in Salt Lake City quite some years ago. We played at the university courts and he thrashed me! He was perhaps one of the best all round athletes that I have ever known. About thirty years ago he had offered to have me work with him in California at a time that I had obtained a sabbatical leave from Tulane University. Unfortunately due to my wife having just given birth, and the expense of moving to LA for four or five months with the family, made acceptance of his offer impossible. Instead I had to pursue a different path. Had I been able to work with Brian I know that my career would have taken a very different, and probably more rewarding route, at least from a research perspective. Brian (with co-author Norman Lamarra) honored me by writing a chapter in a text that I edited several years ago. He had also earlier in my career, at my request, reviewed my Ph.D dissertation providing many thoughtful suggestions for future research. With regret, but realizing my own limitations, I had to pursue a different professional pathway. Brian may no longer be with us in person but he leaves behind a legacy and a very strong academic record as an internationally re-known physiologist. Brian you will be sorely missed but never forgotten.
27 October 2011 11:17
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