Obituary: Jo Rae Wright
ATS President Nick Hill’s Message to Members on Dr. Wright’s Death
January 11, 2012
Dear Friends,
It is with great sadness that I write to inform you that Jo Rae Wright, a recent past president of the American Thoracic Society, died early this morning.
Jo Rae was an accomplished researcher, educator, and administrator. She was also an ardent and effective champion of the American Thoracic Society. Before serving as president in 2008-09, Jo Rae held a number of key leadership positions within the ATS. She chaired the International Conference Committee, Membership Committee, Scientific Advisory Committee, and Assembly on Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology.
During her tenure as ATS president, the Society made a number of key decisions. An assembly work group on lung cancer that would eventually become a section was formed. The journals developed a plan for readers to earn CME credit. Member services were enhanced. And the revamping of the Society’s Web site was launched.
With her passion for the ATS, it was easy to forget that Jo Rae was also Dean of Duke University’s Graduate School and Vice Provost of the University at the same time and that she was responsible for a large research program on campus that studies lung surfactants, crucial for the survival of neonates.
Jo Rae was exceptional in so many other ways. She was the first ATS president who held a PhD; and yet, her presidency was notable for its emphasis on enhancing the Society’s resources for clinicians and patients. She was an extraordinary scientist—having received at age 50 the American Physiological Society’s award for lifetime achievement—and yet, she spoke easily to lay audiences about her research on lung surfactants. She worked exceptionally hard and set ambitious goals, and yet, she talked about the importance of serendipity and just plain luck in her success.
Whatever she did, Jo Rae did well and she did it with a sense of joy, enthusiasm and an eye toward making life better for someone—a member, a student, a patient. Jo Rae made many close friends, and our deepest sympathies go out to them. Those of us in the Society who knew Jo Rae as a colleague grieve, too. Her gift—and example—to all of us is that she made everyone she knew feel like a friend and to feel important.
The leaders of the American Thoracic Society have decided to honor Jo Rae’s life and work by recognizing a highly promising scientist with an award in Jo Rae’s name. The first recipient will be honored during the 2012 International Conference in San Francisco.
We believe the award will honor Jo Rae’s memory by supporting, as she did throughout her career, young researchers with the intelligence and dedication to contribute to scientific advances that will one day eliminate or reduce the burden of lung disease and help people.
She will be sorely missed.
Nicholas S. Hill, MD
President
