school in 1946. He interned at ... at Cleveland City Hospital of Western Reserve School of Medi- ... He received numerous honors in addition to the Parke-Davis.
American Journal of Pathology, Vol. 146, No. 3, March 1995 Copyright C) American Society for Investigative Pathology
In Memoriam Donald B. Hackel, 1921-1994 Donald Benjamin Hackel, M.D., died on June 15, 1994, of disseminated prostatic cancer. His death brought an illustrious career in pathology to an untimely end. Although in severe pain for much of the last 2 years of his life, he retained his scholarly interests throughout his illness. In fact, he finished a book entitled "Sudden Death, Cardiac and Other Causes" roughly a year before his death and had begun planning another one, on aging and the heart, shortly before he died. Don was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 7, 1921. He received his A.B. degree in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Harvard College in 1943 and his M.D. degree from the same school in 1946. He interned at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He then entered the Army Medical Corps and was assigned to the Army Chemical Center in Maryland. While there, he did research in pathophysiology and performed his first work in a pure research environment. Following his military service, Don chose to train in pathology at Cleveland City Hospital of Western Reserve School of Medicine where he served as an assistant resident (1949-50), resident in 1950, and as chief resident in 1951. He joined the faculty of the Western Reserve University School of Medicine as an instructor in 1951 and became an associate professor of pathology in 1957. While at the Cleveland City Hospital, he began a long association with Thomas D. Kinney, who was Chief of Pathology at this institution. Don participated in the hospital service work, performed many cardiovascular experiments, and was active in the development of the innovative curriculum adapted at this time at Western Reserve, this integrated curriculum was a major change from the standard mold set by the Flexner report. Moreover, this was the beginning of his lifelong interest in teaching. While at Western Reserve, his principal research interest was in the reactions of the myocardium to injury. Utilizing a combination of physiological, biochemical, and morphological techniques, he undertook a series of studies on the effects of thiamine deficiency and hemorrhagic shock on the heart. In 1961, in recognition of the excellence of this work, he was awarded the Parke-Davis Research Award in experimental pathology by the American Society for Experimental Pathology. He also was an expert comparative pathologist; this led to his appointment as a consultant to the Cleveland Zoo. He particularly enjoyed relating an unusual experience that he had at the zoo when he investigated the cause of the sudden unexpected death of an adult elephant. As he literally was walking around in the chest cavity during the autopsy, he realized that the elephant had died of pulmonary tuberculosis. This was a big surprise to him. Fortunately, however, he did not contract the disease. Besides zoo animals, he worked extensively on other unusual species such as sand rats and opossums. When Tom Kinney became Chairman of Pathology at the Duke University Medical Center in 1960, Don was one of his first recruits. He joined the Duke faculty in 1961 as a professor of pathology and spent the next 33 years of his career at this institution. His interest in medical education and curriculum reform re-emerged and he again was active in the development of a "new" medical curriculum that was quite different from the integrated curriculum in Cleveland. It took advantage of the large clinical and research faculty distributed throughout a fairly compact medical campus at Duke. It was his view that the medical faculty should use a curriculum that provided the best possible learning environment. Thus, he was not wedded to any particular educational design. He held a Career Research Award from the U.S. Public Health Service throughout his 28 years as an active professor at Duke. This grant was based on studies of the cause of cardiac failure
in hemorrhagic--shock. During the course of these studies, he showed that the combination of decreased blood volume and excess circulating catecholamines contributed greatly to cardiac malfunction and, in fact, caused reversible alterations (zonal lesions) in the contractile apparatus. Many postdoctoral fellows and medical students, including Mark Entman and Burr Ratliff, received research training in his laboratory before going on to distinguished careers at other institutions. In addition to experimental work, he was extraordinarily knowledgeable about human cardiac disease. Much of this information was obtained in a long series of studies on the effects of ischemia on the heart in general, and the conduction system in particular, while running the Pathology Core Laboratory of the Myocardial Infarction Research Unit and later the Specialized Center of Research on Ischemia (SCOR) at Duke. From 1977 to 1982, he was editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Pathology. He was known as a fair, innovative editor who continued to foster the high standards for excellence exhibited by this Journal. Under his leadership, the Journal pros-
pered. He was especially skilled as a teacher and was responsible for administering the introductory course in pathology at Duke for about 20 years. The students recognized him as a superb teacher and friend. On three separate occasions, they awarded him the prestigious "Golden Apple Award" for excellence in teaching. Since this award only can be won once every five years, they presented him with a Lifetime Golden Apple Award in 1988. He was granted emeritus status in 1989 but continued to work even though his mobility was limited markedly by Parkinson's disease. He received numerous honors in addition to the Parke-Davis Research Award and the Career Research Award. They include the Detur Award from Harvard College in 1942; Phi Beta Kappa in 1942; and the Annual Achievement Award of the American Society of Cardiovascular Pathology in 1988. In 1989, the Duke Medical Alumni Association presented him with the coveted Distinguished Teacher Award. Finally, in 1990, his colleagues at Duke and elsewhere established an endowed fellowship, the "Donald B. Hackel Fellowship in Cardiovascular Pathology," to commemorate Don's contribution to science and to Duke University. Throughout his career, Don truly was a triple-threat pathologist. His interests were in teaching, service, and research; he excelled in each of these areas. His most outstanding attributes were his equanimity, sense of humor, and rigorous honesty. He was interested in students, residents and friends; all considered him to be a gentleman. However, this gentle appearance was not a sign of softness; he defended deeply held convictions tenaciously and usually prevailed because of the soundness of his positions. The reasons for his success included his quick intellect, his careful attention to detail, and his ability to sway audiences or discussion groups to his point of view with a humorous remark. On the other hand, he was open-minded and willing to reconsider his position if new evidence became available. All agree that he was a professor of great quality. He leaves a loving family to which he was devoted: his wife Irene; two daughters, Mrs. Connie Hackel Katz of Philadelphia and Dr. Andrea Hackel Harris of Pensacola, Florida; and a son, Richard Elliott Hackel of Winston-Salem.
Robert B. Jennings, M.D. James B. Duke Professor of Pathology Chairman Emeritus of Pathology Duke University Medical Center Durham, North Carolina
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