In Memoriam: Robert E. Priest--Experimental Pathologist and Teacher (1926-2001)
Abstract
University of Washington Seattle, Washington <h2>To the Editor-in-Chief:</h2> Many of my colleagues in Departments of Pathology at Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, and the West Indies (all places graced by his scholarship and wit) may not yet have heard the news that Bob Priest died of a massive stroke in Atlanta on March 4, 2001, some 15 years after his retirement. A more complete obituary, curriculum vitae, and set of photographs will eventually appear on a historical segment of the University of Washington Pathology web site. In the meantime, I provide this brief memoir. I had the pleasure of "breaking in" Bob at the autopsy table at the University of Chicago in 1955. I was delighted to learn that he was a native of Lopez Island, part of my beloved Pacific Northwest. It was thus natural for both of us to have joined one of our Chicago mentors, Earl P. Benditt, when he was offered the Chair of Pathology at the University of Washington. We arrived at what was at that time a rather sleepy department. The first job given us by Earl was to empty and clean a group of ancient gross specimen jars so that they could