From Haldor Jenssen MD

From Haldor Jenssen MD

 One year has passed since Brian Whipp left us. And still the memory of this giant comes to me, not only when his name appears in papers and citations or as title of sessions in congresses, but also in daily life dealing with patients undergoing CPEX for diagnosis or for evaluating of intervention.

My first experiences from his lectures at ERS before the year of 2000 were a thoroughly understanding of the exercising human organism as one unity. This opened my eyes for the utility of exercise testing as an enormous useful tool in the diagnostic work in patients with dyspnea or incompletely diagnosed heart or lung disease. 

In our “Forum for clinical physiology – circulation, gas exchange and ventilation”, his lectures represented a strong springboard over 3 consecutive days in January 2006. Since then the memory of Brian has every year in January been brought forward in the presentations and discussions in our meeting at The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo. This meeting is every year gathering about 100 participants from specialists in cardiology, pneumonology, pediatrics, anesthesiology, physiology and sport science. The participation in this meeting have been giving merit for education of Norwegian physicians.  

Brian also had interests outside physiology. His first goal except lecturing when he came to Oslo was visiting the museum of old Viking ships. Did he feel relationship with other giants from the north?

Haldor Jenssen MD

Telemark Heart Lung and Blood Institute

Cappelens gt. 15

NO-3722 Skien

Norway

From Ami Oren

Tuesday, quarter to five, and all experiments stopped. The good old HP was turned off, the desk cleared and chairs brought to a circle. Sue brought the glasses and Brian a bottle of red wine. The Shakespeare club started promptly at 5. Brian was to discuss The Tempest. The plays were distributed among the participants. Brian and Sue selected The Tempest and Midsummer Night Dream. These were the more complex plays, and Brian set to explain the structure and hierarchy of the plays, the nobles, the commons, and the spirits. As usual, he play-acted the explanation so all I have to do is close my eyes and follow.

As if years have not passed.

Time is the most versatile dimension. It can twist its tail and hit you on the head mixing the then in the now. So I stand in front of my trainees and try to explain respiratory physiology, wishing that Brian were there to do the job. And he was tough, very tough, demanding, and crystal-clear. Didn’t take a second to have every brain cell on full alert and mobilized to comprehend the task at hand. But, in the end,  we learned every bit of it. We even loved it. Brian’s quiet and solid enthusiasm was contagious, his knowledge immense, his teaching unforgettable.

When he picked on my stage fright, Brian pulled me to the side:

“Why don’t you adopt my method? Write down the text and read it over and over, then go to the beach and say it out loud, rehearse it until it flows from you. The waves wouldn’t mind.”

Brian had a talent for explaining the most complex problems by posing simple questions, step-wise, until the problem unraveled and all its elements were clearly laid out.

In my rear-view mirror I can see him sometimes, and realize how much knowledge and understanding he had, how well he understood the “other”.

Brian’s zeal for life was abundant, he was gregarious and had to do everything and be the best in what he did.

Even after a squash game he appeared immaculately dressed, not flashy, just like his leather briefcase, very classy.

There was a distinct style to everything he did, a quality that is hard to match.

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.

FROM RALF HENKER AT CORTEX, LEIPZIG:

Dear Sue

I am writing to you on behalf of Cortex, Leipzig, to pass on our condolences and thoughts to you and the family Brian has left behind. We missed him at Postdam this year but remember well his visit to our company last year. We really appreciated his straight-forward speaking and his close and kind cooperation. We are also sincerly grateful for his allowing us to use his version of the 9-panel plot which we have incorporated into our software, by his name of course. No-one can imagine what it can be like for you now, it must be a difficult time. We do wish you well and leave an open invitation to visit Cortex & Leipzig anytime in the future.......

Kindest regards from Ralf, Juergen, Markus, Andrew & the Cortex Team

20 December 2011 06:22

Ramsey Sabit said...

It was a true privilege to have met Brian - a true Don of exercise physiology whose knowledge and ability to capture an audience will likely never be surpassed. It was his lecture in the London practicum in 2005 that sparked my interest in CPEX which remains to this day. He had the innate ability to make such complicated principles seem so simple. It is truly rare for someone to have such intelligence as well as the ability to communicate this to others so effectively. A true Welsh gentleman, genius and legend - that will be my everlasting memory of Brian. My thoughts are with Sue and his children.

16 December 2011 00:48

James Davis said...

I had the very good fortune to have been a colleague of Brian at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for a number of years after finishing my doctorate. What I learned from him during that time period played an important role in shaping my career at California State University/Long Beach (CSULB), my institution after I left Harbor-UCLA Medical Center until I retired. An example of Brian’s wit occurred when he visited me in the Exercise Physiology Laboratory once I got settled in at CSULB. The lab had been designed and equipped by my predecessor. It had ten exercise stations with a cabinet at each station containing various equipment items, e.g., blood pressure cuff and Haldane gas analysis apparatus. After seeing all ten of the later, Brian declared, “You’ve got more Haldanes in this lab than Haldane.”

Of Brian’s numerous presentations at ACSM meetings over the years, one sticks out in my mind. It was his Joseph B. Wolffe Memorial Lecture titled “Oxygen uptake: Related determinates of exercise tolerance--the contour and the maximum,” presented at the 1999 ACSM Annual Meeting. In one part of the presentation, Brian described an ingenious procedure to confirm, or not, that the VO2 peak obtained from an incremental exercise test was the VO2max.

Over the last 10 years or so, I visited Brian when he returned to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for the bi-annual Exercise Practicum courses. I have very fond memories of those meetings and will miss this extraordinary scientist and friend.

James Davis

13 December 2011 19:31

Denham Ward said...

Dear Sue,
I was so very much saddened to learn of Brian's most untimely passing. He was such a good friend, mentor and inspiration to me in my career. Both as a physiologist who taught me the value of a well poised question and a novel physiological experiment and as a teacher whom I greatly admired and tried to emulate; he was an important part of my career.

I also so fondly remember our times together at the Oxford meetings and in the formation of the "Southern California Ventilatory Control Society". He took such pleasure, with a twinkle in his eye, in devising the logo for the SCVCS, such that the palindrome also had a dot over the V and had a rise and fall in the font size like Cheyenne-Stokes respiration!

I am sorry that I had not had an opportunity to see Brian recently, but he will be missed and remembered anytime I think about respiratory physiology.

29 November 2011 14:37

Steven Jenkins said...

Like my friend Norman Lamarra, I made a temporary foray into physiology while an engineering graduate student at UCLA. Working with my advisor Don Wiberg in Jay Bellville's lab, I came to know Brian and his colleagues in the respiratory control community: Sue Ward (who supervised my first directed study in physiology), Denham Ward (who later became my advisor), Rich Casaburi (who served with Brian on my dissertation committee), Chi-Sang Poon, George Swanson, Karl Wasserman, others whose names have faded.

Everyone who encountered Brian Whipp has some lasting memories. Here are some of mine:

I was one of three students who attended a weekly graduate seminar on respiratory physiology at UCLA in the early 1980s. It was a small room, and Brian's imposing presence was magnified under such circumstances. On one occasion he asked how a subject would respond to a continued decrease in PO2. My unfortunate colleague (I wasn't me, really!) said "The system defends against that." Brian's eyes lit up like Christmas morning. "The system deFENDS against it, does it? The system deFENDS against it? How, pray tell, does the system deFEND against it?" And thereupon we began a struggle to find a more precise expression.

Such occurrences were not rare. It is important to note, however, that there is a wide gulf between the pedagogical art as Brian Whipp practiced it and the sneering, overbearing, abusive style seen in many imitators. Brian was never cruel, but he maintained high intellectual standards. And although I think it is clear he enjoyed his role as examiner, I never got the impression that he was motivated by anything more the sheer pleasure of teaching and learning something that matters. He was what Bronowski called a "guardian of integrity". I found being his student exhilarating. When "off-duty", so to speak, he was kind and funny.

One of the first times I was in Brian's cozy office at UCLA, I managed to knock the fire extinguisher off the wall. Brian was mildly amused by my nervous fumbling, but the mood improved dramatically when he announced his approval of the draft I had asked him to review, and his unsolicited praise for my writing was an unexpected bonus. One did not take Brian's approval for granted.

I was once in a large lecture hall with first-year dental students when one student asked Brian an imprecise, and worse, off-topic question. He stood rock-still, peered intently in her direction as if formulating an answer, turned, took two steps back, and continued the lecture. No retort could have been more expressive.

I shared with Brian a love of words and language. (Being American, however, I could not match his erudition.) At one point in my dissertation, I characterized the shunt fraction as "blood flow circumventing the lung". Now, it occurred to me as I wrote it that "circumventing" was a bit of a pun, but correct and appropriate usage. I couldn't help but smile when Brian's review copy was returned with the word circled and "Excellent!" written in the margin.

Brian and I once sat in the bar of the Westwood Marquis and discussed jazz. I expounded on the virtues of Miles Davis and Bill Evans; Brian of course countered with Lee Morgan and Bud Powell. As usual, he was right.

That world has vanished for me. I went to work in space exploration, Denham went to Rochester, Brian and Sue returned to the UK. Oddly enough, Norman and I worked together at JPL before he returned to his entrepreneurial roots in radar. I continued so support TIDAL while it was heavily used in Denham's lab; I have no idea if it's still being used anywhere now that he's retired. (It's on SourceForge if anyone's interested.)

In 1989 Brian presented me with a copy of W.V. Quine's "Quiddities". Inside is inscribed "Food for thought--for a thinker." It is one of my most prized possessions.

So long, Brian. Thank you for everything. My condolences to Sue, Laura, and Brian.

27 November 2011 09:25

Andrew Edwards said...

I can't say I knew Brian, but I certainly knew of him. I found his work hugely influential and, after reading what seemed an endless stream of BJ Whipp papers while studying for MPhil & PhD, I felt I almost knew him - his work at least. His conference presentations were always rich with the knowledge I wished I possessed and were delivered with a calm authority evident amongst only the very best.

Best wishes to his family and friends.

Andrew Edwards

26 November 2011 00:57

Sue Ward said...

FROM EDWARD WINTER:

I echo the sentiments expressed above and it is difficult to add to them without repetition. However, I'll try.

I have known Brian for nearly 30 years and he has had a marked influence on my approach to teaching and research. That approach is a trinity of fun, challenge and relevance.

The physiology of exercise is fun - but that fun should not be construed as frivolity. Whether our concern is professional athletes and their entourage of coaches and advisors whose livelihoods could be affected by the advice we give, or patients whose survival is in jeopardy, our business is serious.

We have to confront intellectual and practical challenges. We must convey these challenges to our students but in addition, try to equip those students with the wherewithal to meet what they will face.

Finally, our work has relevance both for fundamental understanding and application to diverse groups.

Brian embodied this trinity.

Whenever I went to one of Brian's presentations he invariably demonstrated this trinity. Moreover, I was unfailing enthralled both by the content of his talks and his delivery.

As regards his wit, I recall an experience I had with him. It resides in my voluminous file of gaffs I have made and I still wince at the memory. Shortly after meeting him and after discussing our Loughborough-based backgrounds I enquired, "Brian, from which part of England do you hail . . . ?"

Considering Brian's provenance, his response was remarkably restrained and after he put me right, my embarrassment was accompanied by a silence followed by his roaring laughter.

I am privileged to have known Brian and hope that I convey the positive influence he has had on me to those I have taught.


Edward M Winter BEd MSc PhD DSc FBASES FafPE
Professor of the Physiology of Exercise
The Centre for Sport and Exercise Science
Academy of Sport and Physical Activity
Sheffield Hallam University
Collegiate Hall
Collegiate Crescent Campus
Sheffield S10 2BP
UNITED KINGDOM

16 November 2011 05:19

Fred DiMenna said...

It is difficult to fathom that such a powerful presence is no longer here with us on Earth. But much like energy, brilliance is not destroyed, but transferred through various forms, and we can conclude that Professor Whipp’s brilliance lives through his many contributions to the field and within all of those he has so profoundly inspired. With respect to the latter, we are all challenged to, at least in some small way, contribute to perpetuating his legacy. A mighty challenge, indeed. And speaking of mighty challenges, my most lasting memory of Professor Whipp is a two-hour ‘chat’ I had with he and David Poole on April 29, 2010. In actuality, it was more like a boxing match with me getting knocked down repeatedly but, thankfully, never for the full 10 count (although truth be told, at the end, I was ready to go and was saved by the bell, I reckon). I am, however, proud to say that I was responsible for getting a very animated reaction from the good Professor with my response to one of his questions. He had asked me something about “the exponential” that I could not answer and after he explained it to me, to defend myself, I said I WOULD have known the answer had he thought to include the information in Chapter 3 of the Kinetics textbook (aka, 'The Bible'). Every time he saw me thereafter, he said that was the best answer he had ever received when examining for a Viva!

P.S. With regard to the Burnley post (see above), I am proud to reveal that I am the one who fell into the “You-walk-to-that-mountain-from-here?” trap!

5 November 2011 21:56

Norm Lamarra said...

From Mathematical Physics to Electronic Engineering to Respiratory Physiology...

I first met Brian in 1979 as a grad student (in System Science) looking for an interesting dissertation topic -- having come from Physics and Electronics, I briefly explored the analysis of neural signals, but once I started work at HUCLA, following in the Engineering footsteps of Rich Casaburi, I became fascinated by the problems and consequences of proper measurements of dynamic gas exchange. During those pre-doctoral years, I would observe Rich and Brian arguing the relevance of the stimulus/response data to possible underlying mechanisms, and such arguments were the greatest stimuli of my academic life. When Rich left for Medical School, Brian took over mentoring the remainder of my pre-doctoral work, and then immediately welcomed me as a 'tauer' to continue work (along with Sue). He had that rare quality of making almost every capable student achieve more because of his boundless enthusiasm for the field, and his constant encouragement, mixed with challenge and rigor “by example”.

It's particularly shocking that Brian succumbed to heart disease after such an active and sporting life. I'm recalling games of squash we used to have at HUCAL the early 80s and then later at UCLA when he returned in the 90s -- his bounding around the court like a grey-bearded Tinkerbell, impossible to fake him out because he would almost always know where it was going even before I decided where to put it. After he finally 'retired' to Wales, I stopped playing, but just recently re-started (at age 59) – and think about him every time I play. If I happen to make a particularly good winning shot, I can hear Brian's typical compliment -- "Oh, Average!!" -- the longer the A sound, the higher the praise...

As far as Brian's mentoring -- he challenged many to achieve, but no-one more than himself, and I'm truly humbled by how he encouraged me to break into a field that was so alien for me at the start. With Brian's (and Sue's) mentoring, I learned to use phrases like "obligate determinant" and "tolerable duration of physical exercise", “deficit and debt” in approximately the right contexts. But I think an overriding reason that so many physicians and researchers became drawn to the field was because of Brian's teaching. It conveyed his enthusiasm to relate what was already known (presented so clearly and logically) to what was as yet unproven, systematically drawing connections and then showing their flaws, leading to convictions that were the most unassailable because of the clarity of the reasoning. Compared to the mostly opaque teaching I had experienced in my prior academic disciplines, Brian's approach was a model of clarity and simplicity, not to mention wit and humor (of course pronounced hiwmore). And despite apparently gruff responses to being teased or mocked, if one of us was sufficiently on-target with a rendition of some aspect of his Professorial mien, the 'gimlet blue eyes' would relax, and he would give in gracefully, revealing the humor of a person whose academic persona expanded only as far as necessary to fill a lecture hall or a scientific conference.

Although erudite in many areas, scholarly in more, Brian was devoutly family-oriented and a true Gentleman. His demeanor would change dramatically when talking about either his family or Wales, both beloved. After visiting our family in L.A. some years ago, I received a parcel from Amazon containing “The Rape of the Fair Country”, describing a world of the mining valleys so far from Brian's lofty academia yet so close to his heart and childhood. We have lost a giant of Physiology, whose stature can readily be seen from the recognition by all those whose academic and personal lives have been so profoundly affected.

5 November 2011 19:35

Sue Ward said...

FROM JOHN GRADWELL:

Personal tribute to Brian James Whipp

Brian was to me, like he was to so many others, both a friend and a mentor. Arriving together at Loughborough in 1957 he and I became inseparable in so many ways. As a mentor he introduced me not only to numerous sports but to the philosophers he had read years ago and to the jazz musicians he admired. Upon leaving Loughborough in 1960 we made a pact to teach for one year and then find work in Canada. We shared an apartment in St. Johns, Nfld., and taught at the same school and even married girls from the same office!

However we both recognised that our academic credentials were minimal and set out to complete our education in the US. Just a few years later we were both living close to San Francisco and able to meet from time to time. Brian was way ahead of me having received a Danforth fellowship to study at the doctoral level. From the 1970s onwards we were geographically far apart and only able to meet occasionally however Brian's early mentorship will always remain with me and will inspire me early next year as I cycle a few thousand kilometres across the Indian sub-continent.

John Gradwell

5 November 2011 00:29

Harry Rossiter said...

FROM Bruno Grassi:

In the early 90's I was sharing an office with David Poole at UCSD. I remember that one day I asked David about Brian Whipp, who at the time I had never met. He told me "He is so smart that when you talk with him you often feel pretty dumb". Several years later I had the privilege of having a brief discussion about science and other things with Brian, over a coffee at an ACSM meeting. I immediately realized that David was 100% right!

I was sort of expecting his tremendously acute observations about the work which I was doing at the time. What I did not expect was his vast, deep and tremendously original knowledge about Italy and its history. It was really a fascinating half an hour of discussion. He was a giant in our field. We all owe him a lot. With special thoughts to Sue.

Bruno Grassi

4 November 2011 06:42

Harry Rossiter said...

FROM James Day:

I was a medical student at St. George's in Prof. Whipp's final year. Together with my friend Ed Coats we spent a fantastic year doing our intercalated BSc. It was the best bit of my medical training by far. I remember our first tutorial in his office. He opened the door, smiled, ushered us to sit down and then asked: Jazz or classical? We were a bit confused, so he asked us again. We replied Jazz. He said it was most important to have suitable background music for a tutorial.

So the year continued with tutorials fuelled by coffee, doughnuts and proper music. He taught us how to think and speak as a scientist.

His door was always open if we had a silly question and his enthusiasm for his subject was infectious. He was always very friendly and sociable too. I hope I will be so full of energy for my subject throughout my career.

It is with sadness that I still find a letter of his in my specialty journal "Anaesthesia" this month.

He really was a role model for us.

3 November 2011 14:23

KSietsema said...

Along with being a leader among physiology scholars, Brian had a less obvious but no less profound effect on the training of decades of clinicians, including clinical fellows at Harbor-UCLA. As a first year fellow in pulmonary medicine, no scenario in the intensive care unit was more intimidating than being called upon to present in a conference room with Brian seated in the back, listening. His fellows’ seminars began at three pm, exactly, and ended at four. In the intervening hour, he challenged us to reason forward from first principles rather than backwards from the familiar comfort of clinical experience. He is among those rare teachers who become lasting metrics… “What would Brian say to this?”… I later had the privilege for many years of teaching with him in the Exercise Practicum courses at Harbor, and will sorely miss the pleasure of slipping into the back of the room to hear what aspect of his expansive expertise he’d chosen to include in each new session. The exact content of these presentations was clearly less important than masterfully guiding the listeners to glorious moments of insight, inspiring them to want to understand more. I will miss the vitality, humor, wit and wisdom of this wonderful teacher, colleague and friend.

1 November 2011 12:34

Janos Porszasz said...

Prof. Klaus Rabe the President of the European Respiratory Society and Prof. Paolo Palange the past Chair of the ERS School posted an official remembrance of Dr. Whipp in the section of the ERS Website "Message from the ERS President".

http://www.ersnet.org/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&id=4446

31 October 2011 11:59

David C Poole said...

As a young Masters student in Kinesiology at UCLA, when Professor Ged Gardner recommended that I take Professor Brian Whipp’s graduate course in respiratory physiology, I couldn’t have imagined how it would refocus my career and my life. In the medical school physiology class Brian (Y Ddraig Goch) terrified the students en masse. His powerful, crisp and erudite delivery sparkled with intensity and was spiced with medical anecdotes and Shakespearean segues. But, alas, he demanded that they not only learn the equations but how they were derived and how they really worked. Despite these demands, day one of his graduate class was packed to overflowing with medical and graduate students who soon learned that pretense of knowledge and bluff would be exposed. He would make students stand in turn and dissect the limits of their understanding. Once that was established the victim would sink deflated and red-faced into their chair. For class two only graduate students having to take the class remained. It was high-pressure all the way; one young lady would call me the night before Thursday’s class and weep uncontrollably into the phone. Next day it was apparent that she and others had enjoyed little sleep the previous night. The quarter progressed and, in desperation to avoid the regular logical drubbings, our knowledge grew exponentially. We had all known teachers who delight in torturing students when they are safe in their classroom but wouldn’t dream of trying such out of their environment. Several weeks into the class, my first ACSM national meeting showed me that this was how Brian prosecuted his science: attacking and riposting his scientific peers. I recall a particularly scintillating debate with George Brooks over the mechanistic bases of the “anaerobic threshold.” These were people passionately concerned with their science and I was enthralled beyond all else. I realized that Brian was truly World class and knew then that I wanted to be a scientist.

When the breath-by-breath gas exchange system (MedGraphics 2000), used to gather my Masters thesis project data with Dr. Glenn Gaesser, was moved to Professor Sue Ward’s laboratory in Anesthesiology, I went with it. Sue probably saw me just in a technical role as I knew the rather complex and finicky calibration routines. However, when she learned that I had taken Brian’s classes she seemed impressed. Subsequently, with Ged Gardner, Sue co-chaired my doctoral committee and Brian oversaw its theoretical development. On Fridays I would cycle the 27 miles down to Harbor-UCLA in Torrance to meet with Brian before seminar. Those were the toughest scientific meetings of my life. I would show a slide or present data and allude to mechanisms and Brian would fix me with those pale blue eyes and rapturous amused look. With penetrating logic he would remove all conjecture and woolly thinking from my thesis leaving only stark fact. In this I have never met Brian’s equal and I knew that if I could win his approval my thesis would stand any outside scrutiny. That, and the occasional adoption of a Whippian accent, gave me the confidence to take the scientific stage. Years later when I was awarded my Doctor of Science from Liverpool John Moores University the reason it meant so much to me was that Brian held that honour. My graduate students now endure as I did with Brian.

Last November, Brian and Sue hosted me for several marvelous days in Crickhowell. We walked the hills and vales met “rescued” donkeys and stopped in the local pubs for a drink and talked about the UCLA days, science and life. His range of knowledge and talents was truly extraordinary. To this day when faced with a seemingly intractable problem I often find myself asking “what would Brian do?” I know that I would never have become what I am without Brian - Doctor Mirabilis - and he will forever occupy a uniquely prominent place in my life and my science. This fiercely proud Welshman has set the highest of standards for generations of scientists to come.

David C Poole

31 October 2011 11:56

Mark Burnley said...

Brian’s papers inspired me to pursue research in respiratory physiology, and he examined my PhD. I count myself as the one of the lucky few dozen (or more) for which that sentence holds true. But it is also true that every student of exercise physiology is, in some way, a student of Brian's. He was a very special scientist and teacher. I was also lucky to spend some time in his company in Crickhowell. His guided tour of the village was an experience that my friends from Exeter and I will never forget. That was in the summer of 2010, the last time I saw him, and he was on top form. At one point, somebody asked him "do you normally start your walks from here?" to which he dryly replied "yes, I always begin walks from where I start." When the news of his passing gets me down, I remember this and other moments with Brian, and I find myself smiling again.

Mark Burnley

31 October 2011 06:47

Paolo Palange said...

I’m so sad and it is very difficult to find the right words.
Brian has been a great scientist, a great teacher and a very nice person. Brian was always very supportive with young colleagues and for many of us he was a true mentor. I had the privilege and pleasure to share with him, and Sue, very nice moments of science but also art. I want to remember one of our last walks in Rome when I told him, in front of one of the many statues of Adriano, the Emperor-Philosopher “you must have some roman blood in your veins”. This because Brian was a true emperor in his fields, he had such an open mind and I liked the idea to have something in common with him. Now a piece of my life is gone and no one will ever take Brian’s place in my heart. Ciao Brian.

30 October 2011 02:46

Harry Rossiter said...

FROM John Kowalchuk:

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Brian. For me, personally, he was a colleague, a teacher, a mentor, and someone whom I very much respected and admired. More importantly, however, he was a friend. I was very fortunate to have spent a sabbatical year with Brian in his laboratory at the St. George’s Hospital Medical School. It was a very productive year and enjoyable experience for me, and it was ‘fun’. I will always remember the almost daily morning and afternoon ‘break time’ conversations and discussions that Brian, Harry Rossiter and I had in his office over ‘coffee and muffins’. Not just the science, but sports, art, music, literature, history - it seemed as though Brian was an authority on everything (he was) - and, of course, anything ‘Welsh’.

When preparing to attend the annual ACSM meetings I would always contact Brian to see whether he would be attending and if so, whether he would have an evening open for dinner and glass of Jack Daniel’s and/or Booker’s. He did!! A highlight of the meetings, I always came away having enjoyed myself and always having learned something.

My wife and daughter always enjoyed Brian’s company. My daughter was 8 years old when she first met Brian. She still remembers him teaching her the correct Welsh pronunciation for the village name “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch”. On a recent trip to the UK we visited Brian and Susan in ‘Crick’. Always the gracious hosts, we were treated so well and remember the walking tour through the village, with Brian showing us the sites and relating the local history, and giving us advice on which countryside walk we should attempt.

It was always a special treat to have Brian visit us in Canada. It was another opportunity for discussion and a chance for our students to interact, informally, with Brian. Of course many of Brain’s publications and reviews are required reading for my graduate (and undergraduate) students. He always engaged the students, asked about their research, answered their questions. He challenged the students (challenged us all) but made it a very positive, learning experience. Despite his reputation as “THE expert” the students were always put at ease and were comfortable interacting with him. Last fall was Brain’s final visit to our laboratory. While we very much enjoyed the social part of the visit, it was very memorable for me because for the better part of two days Brian was seated at a table outside my office meticulously analyzing gas exchange data to estimate lactate thresholds. Pencil and ruler in hand, drawing lines, overlaying and holding graphs up to the light to better view VO2, VCO2, Ve ‘profiles’ and relationships. The ‘Master’ at work (and play).

Brian, you will be missed - by me and many others - and you will be remembered for a long while!!

29 October 2011 05:28

Sue Ward said...

FROM Andrew Huszczuk:

Brian, as a friend and scholar, was and will remain IRREPLACEABLE.

29 October 2011 00:43

Sue Ward said...

FROM ROGER ESTON:

I am really sorry to hear about Brian. It comes as a real shock to the exercise science community worldwide. I had the privilege of meeting Brian briefly last year when he visited Exeter to give a presentation organised by Andy Jones and Daryl Wilkerson. He gave a wonderfully lucid, stimulating and witty lecture which was hugely appreciated by all.
Sue, my thoughts are with you and your family at this sad and difficult time.
Kind regards
Roger Eston

29 October 2011 00:41

Steve Rennard said...

I never knew Brian personally, but through his friends and students, some of whom are now my friends and teachers, feel that he has been very happily influential on me. I know how much he is missed by those who had the good fortune to know him well.

27 October 2011 15:06

Sue Ward said...

From Rick Stremel:

It is with great sadness that I write this brief note on the occasion of the death of Dr. Brian J. Whipp. Brian was my friend and mentor. As a young post-doc at Harbor-UCLA I had the opportunity to work with and get to know some great men and scientists, Brian was one of them.
I recall fondly how Brian would walk into the lab or my office and say “Brew-up?!”. It was his invitation to brew some tea (which he drank with milk – something I never adopted) and spend some time in conversation. I never turned down an opportunity to interact with him. He was a true mentor in that he was always trying (sometimes successfully) to educate me about some aspect of life (not just the science). Brian would walk into the lab and ask a spontaneous question about a line from some Shakespearean play, knowing full well that I had little education in the classics. He would challenge me to name the play from which the line came. I didn’t enjoy being the only one in the room not knowing the answer, but it should be noted that he usually made his challenges when the Olivier Shakespeare movies were playing for free on the UCLA campus. My wife (Buffy) and I enjoyed the “classic” movies and I truly enjoyed guessing Richard III on one occasion and catching Brian quite by surprise. Brian knew it took more than lab work to make a successful scientist and I believe he wanted to see me become a complete professional. I hope I met his expectations.
I bought a copy of John West’s little book “Ventilation/blood flow and gas exchange” and Brian would interrogate me on my understanding – one painful chapter at a time. He taught me, by example, how to make a quality presentation to an audience. I have never seen anyone quite as good as Brian at “flowing” from one slide to the next. His preparation for important talks and presentations was amazing to watch and from which to learn. He taught me that everyone could use a little reminder that “words matter” and one should always use the correct ones. He taught me Latin when I reviewed one of his grant applications and had to ask the meaning of “Post hoc, ergo propter hoc” (I thought at least some of the reviewers would have to look it up as well). He taught me Welsh – at least enough to offer a drinking toast (and I taught my children). He taught me so much that I can’t recall it all. One Whippism that will always stay with me is “No matter what you say, if you say it with confidence – people will believe you”. That Whippism has served me well throughout my academic and administrative career.
Shortly after leaving Harbor-UCLA for a position at the University of Louisville, School of Medicine, I arranged for Brian to visit and give a Grand Rounds lecture to the Department of Medicine and a seminar to our Physiology & Biophysics Department. To my surprise, after the seminar Brian asked that I take him to a local Medical Office Building. In the basement of the building was a locker room with squash courts for the physician’s private use. I sat in the stands with several dozen very interested physicians as Brian and a local MD played a challenge match in squash. I didn’t know that Brian was an internationally ranked squash player and that the fellow he was playing was even higher ranked. As I recall, Brian lost the match and after showering, we continued our visit as if the squash match was merely an arranged interlude. Buffy, Brian, and I went to dinner that night and he was introduced to a local Kentucky bourbon, Maker’s Mark. Unknown to me, Brian was also a connoisseur of fine whiskey and bourbon. I knew so much about him and so little. That was how Brian liked to keep things.
Buffy and I want to pass along our deepest sympathy to Brian’s family and loved ones. We will miss him greatly. I don’t know what else to say except “iechyd da”, Brian.
Rick & Buffy Stremel, Louisville, Kentucky.

27 October 2011 11:34

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

David Cunningham said...

I was saddened to learn of Brian's unexpected death when I opened my emails yesterday. He was such a vibrant and strong man this was a great shock. A good friend and mentor from our earliest association during my stay at Harbor General in 1982, St. George's in 1995 and 1996 and our many talks over many years. His research leadership changed the work in my laboratory from our very first collaborations. I last saw Brian at the end of September 2010 when he visited us at Western and had dinner in my home with my Anne, Don Paterson and Laurel. He enjoyed a drink of Bourbon as I didn't have Jack Daniels, discussing cryptic crosswords, and future walks in Wales. I will remember him always for his great inspirations in research and warm friendship. My sympathy Sue for your sad loss.

26 October 2011 15:30

Harry Rossiter said...

Please find below a message received from Fadil Ozyener...

I was fortunate enough to spend some time under Brian's guidance. I am very happy and grateful that he made a lasting contribution to my life. I always admired his wit, kindness, patience and above all his excellent scientific mind. An irreplaceable loss for everybody who knew him.

He was always ready to help and be there for me during my study in London. I will always remember him smiling kindly even when I was stretching his patience for one reason or another during experiments in the laboratory. I wish I had visited him in Crickhowel after his retirement and learned some Welsh. He would have liked it. (At some point he tried to teach me a few Welsh words and joked about it.)

My deepest condolences to Sue, his children, his friends and scientific community.

Fadil Ozyener

26 October 2011 14:25

Andy Jones said...

When I heard the sad news of Brian's passing, I was in Veruno, Italy, as part of the teaching faculty at a workshop on cardiopulmonary exercise testing and its physiological bases. The news was all the more poignant because not a single slide was presented, nor one sentence uttered, that did not owe something to Brian's research and teaching. This stands as testament to him: in his lifetime, he influenced generationS of scientists and his legacy is such that he will continue to do so.

I only had the privilege of spending a few hours in Brian's company on a handful of occasions but I have special memories of all those times: ice-cream in Redondo, walking in Crick, whiskey in New Orleans... It was impossible not to learn something (and often something quite unexpected) in his presence. While Brian could be 'imposing' at times (and he knew it!), he was also utterly gracious and was possessed of the finest sense of humour. His witty one-liners and anecdotes are legend in my laboratory and are frequently regurgitated by my PhD students.

One of the last times I saw Brian in academic 'action' was at the 2010 ACSM conference where he presented the D B Dill Historical Lecture. It was an awesome performance which culminated, fittingly, in a standing ovation.

The academic disciplines of exercise and respiratory physiology have lost a towering intellect, inspirational leader, and generous friend. Brian was a great man. Anything that any of us have ever, or will ever, achieve in exercise and/or respiratory physiology is because we have had the good fortune to stand on the shoulders of this Welsh giant.

Andy Jones

26 October 2011 04:27

Bufador said...

I still remember very well the first time I met Brian during the preparation of the first ERS task force on exercise test held in Barcelona in 1998, he was a "Gentleman" in the widest definition of the word. I will always have a great respect and admiration for you.
You leave a great void. My condolence to the family

Felip Burgos

25 October 2011 23:58

Janos Porszasz said...

Brian and Sue have been in my thoughts every day ever since I learned that my dearest friend and idol, Brian is sick. That morning of his passing we stood with Rich, moved and in silence, looking at his clean smile and look...

He has been the most thoughtful scientist and the warmest person, who gave me the gift of his friendship. He has been, ever since I knew him, my example of how science should be handled. I am most grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to work with him closely during his stay with us at Harbor in the early 2000s. It was the best period of my life; there was no day passing when I did not learn from him something; let it be science, humanity, arts, music or the questions of life - his impact on my thinking is enormous and will live with me as long as I live!

Loosing someone is hard on our lives, but loosing Brian is impossible to comprehend with without knowing that he lives forever through his impact to science and on so many people who embrace the knowledge and take it on.

Go on, Brian! I know you will...

Janos

25 October 2011 13:55

David Paterson said...

I was saddened to hear from Sue that Brian is no longer with us. He had a big impact on my career and I enjoyed my encounters with him at Oxford and at meetings. He was a gentleman, a scholar, and someone who pushed the boundaries in exercise respiratory physiology. He challenged us to think out of the envelop. I am only sorry he did not see his rugby team (Wales) play in the finals of the recent world cup. Like his rugby team, I admired his passion and commitment. He will be missed.

David Paterson

25 October 2011 12:48

Luis Puente said...

Dear Brian
I always had and I will always have a great respect and admiration for you. You practiced the perfect Socratic method of teaching, you even had the patrician aspect one would attribute to classic philosophers. Indeed your mind had the order and your arguments the perfection of good philosophy. Few people if any I ever met have impressed me more intellectually than you.
You leave a great void.

Luis

25 October 2011 10:56

Harry Rossiter said...

I am immensely proud to be able to call Brian my mentor and my friend. I can't imagine a finer teacher and gentleman (or Welshman!).

One of Brian's colleagues told me that his D.B. Dill Historical Lecture at ACSM in Baltimore in 2010 was "one for the ages." I was lucky enough to be able to attend the packed auditorium - it had everything, theatre, philosophy, science, observation, wit. It was a pure performance. It was, simply, Brian.

The loss of Brian is especially sad for those of us who were fortunate enough to be able count him as a colleague, teacher, mentor or friend, but somehow I feel that we are all a little poorer for his passing.

Brian had the right phrase for every occasion. An enduring memory of Brian will be his ability to cut to the essence of the moment with the careful moulding of just a few words (either his own or chosen from others). When especially harried he would turn to Samuel Beckett: "I can't go on...I can’t go on... I'll go on". He will go on.

Cindy and I are thinking of Sue, Laura and Brian at this sad time.

Harry Rossiter

25 October 2011 00:55

dreamcatcher284 said...

I'm very sorry to hear of the loss. Dr. Whipp was so perceptive and ready to give sharp insights into the most inscrutable problems. He will very much be missed.

24 October 2011 21:00

Alberto Neder said...

Brian was not only the great mentor of a whole generation of clinicians and researchers but also a superb character in all senses.

It would not be of any excess to say that he was one of the most influential minds on modern exercise physiology and pathophysiology. For sure, the brightest and sharpest person that I had ever the honour to get in contact.

It is really a great tragedy to happen that for someone who still had a lot to offer - just as an example, please refer to the text in the brochure of the last ERS course on CPET just some weeks ago (a lecturer that he was very sad to not been able to deliver as he has already been facing some health problems - by the way, very well done by his friend Rich Casaburi).

Ana and I also had a double Balvenie on him last night. We will soon organize a special session on his memoty in Brazil where he will always deeply influential.

All of our feelings are with Sue, Laura and Brian in this momment of great sadness.

Alberto Neder
(Sao Paulo, Brazil)

24 October 2011 17:15

Rich Casaburi said...

I was proud to call Brian my friend. For 38 years he was my mentor...and quite simply the smartest person I knew.
Sincere condolences to Sue, Laura and Brian and to his many, many friends. We'll all miss his fiercely Welsh way of doing things.
Last night Mary and I sipped the last of the bottle of Jack Daniels that we kept for Brian's visits and offered a last "Iechyd da" for our dear friend.
Rich Casaburi

23 October 2011 14:47