Brian J. Whipp: A Memorial: January 2012

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.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

From John Macdonald:

In August 2011 my wife and I were fortunate enough to visit Brian and Sue in Chrickhowell. I had not seen either since leaving UCLA in 1987. Within five minutes of our visit Brian brought up several points about my doctoral dissertation. The old panicky feelings came rushing back. Let’s see, is it the nadir, what about the asymptote, or how about the time constant? With all the work he had done, and all the people he debated, he recalled my dissertation. Maybe that was not surprising. It was his theoretical expertise that was the basis of my dissertation. So it was with overwhelming grief that a few weeks after our visit Sue wrote us of Brian’s passing.

I was co-investigator of an Office of Naval Research grant at the University of Southern California studying CO2 retention in divers. I had been a U.S. Navy diver, and held a master’s degree. When the research was completed I wanted to pursue a doctorate so I could do more advanced research. My fellow co-investigator at USC advised me to go to UCLA and study with Dr. Brian Whipp. Hence, I enrolled at UCLA, and went to see Dr. Whipp. He was gracious, but said he was not taking graduate students, that I should contact Dr. Sue Ward. Thus began my doctoral studies. I took Dr. Whipp’s graduate respiratory physiology course that David Poole so eloquently described, and I sat in on the Fellow’s seminars at Harbor-UCLA.

I always sat in the back at those seminars. One evening a Fellow was giving a presentation. Dr. Whipp was sitting in the back next to me. I looked over and noticed he was scoring a musical composition. Every so often he would correct the Fellow to get him back on track. I swear the guy had two brains.

I was a member of the Undersea Medical Society and while I was a grad student the Society was holding its national meeting in Los Angeles. I was given the task of finding the keynote speaker. I immediately thought of Dr. Whipp even though hyperbaric medicine was not his area of expertise. As a lowly grad student I was hesitant to ask him but he accepted without hesitation. With all he was doing, lecturing the freshmen medical students, running the Fellows seminars, his prodigious research, writing grant proposal, writing articles and who knows what all, he accepted.

One month later he began the lecture on first principles, taking a breath of air in a hyperbaric environment. An hour later, after referencing the classic articles, integrating the important findings, and building a solid argument for gas exchange under pressure, I looked around the room of physicians and scientists. I could almost hear them saying, ‘So that’s how it works. It’s so logical. Of course it’s so clear now.’

I went to thank him, but before I could say anything he grabbed my hand and thanked me. He said, “That was a challenge.” And now I come to realize that was Dr. Whipp’s life, a challenge. Whether it was physical or mental, he accepted any challenge and met it head on. He prepared relentlessly, and expected the same from those who were fortunate enough to have studied under him. We are all better for having known him.