[3dem] FW: Passing of Phillip Ross Smith

Wang, Da-Neng Da-Neng.Wang at med.nyu.edu
Thu Dec 21 13:49:58 PST 2017


Here is the formal announcement by our administration on Ross’ passing away.

Da-Neng


From: <owner-faculty-list at listservprivate.med.nyu.edu> on behalf of "Abramson, Steven B." <StevenB.Abramson at nyumc.org>
Date: Thursday, December 21, 2017 at 3:50 PM
To: faculty-list <faculty-list at listservprivate.med.nyu.edu>
Cc: "Grossman, Robert" <Robert.Grossman at nyumc.org>, Ruth Lehmann <Ruth.Lehmann at med.nyu.edu>, "Tobia, Janice" <Janice.Tobia at nyumc.org>, "Rios, Madeline" <Madeline.Rios at nyumc.org>, "Abramson, Steven B." <StevenB.Abramson at nyumc.org>
Subject: Passing of Phillip Ross Smith

Dear Colleagues,

We are saddened to inform you that Phillip Ross Smith, a professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the NYU School of Medicine, passed away on December 19. Dr. Ross was a native of New Zealand and was first trained in physics at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, and subsequently received a PhD in physics from Cambridge University, where he carried out research on high energy particle physics at the Cavendish Laboratory. Dr. Ross trained as a postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, where he became a widely recognized expert in determining three dimensional structures of biomacromolecular assemblies using image processing of electron micrographs.

Dr. Ross joined NYU as an assistant professor of cell biology in 1978 and was awarded tenure in 1990. For a large part of his career he also served as a lecturer and instructor in cell biology and histology courses for medical and graduate students. Dr. Ross received an MD from the NYU School of Medicine in 1986 and was a house officer in Department of Pediatrics at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center. It was there that he met his wife, Margie, who is also a physician. He and his wife raised two daughters, Laura and Rebecca.

Dr. Ross’s recent research focused on biomolecular computing and informatics with an emphasis on developing new computer resources for the education and research environments and, in particular, for solving problems in medical informatics and structural biology. In this capacity Dr. Ross served as operations director of the High-Performance Computing Facility (HPCF) of the NYU Center for Health Informatics and Bioinformatics, and of the Bioinformatics component of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). At the CTSI, Dr. Ross developed DNA sequence visualization software thatis now an important informatics tool within next generation sequencing methodologies.

Dr. Ross contributed to numerous educational software projects that have been, and continue to be, used by thousands of students here at NYU and nationally. Among these were the KeySearch system,  which uses natural language processing to evaluate student assessments; instructional design of the NYU Virtual Microscope; and dozens of online learning modules and quizzes that teach the fundamentals of histology and microscopy. In recognition of his enduring interest, commitment, and dedication to medical education and technology, Dr. Ross was inducted as an affiliate faculty member of the NYU Institute for Innovations in Medical Education.

Dr. Ross was an enthusiastic and generous scientist with a profound understanding of biophysical principles and an unusual capacity to explain difficult subjects and facilitate the growth of new insights in his students and collaborators. He will be greatly missed.

A memorial service at the medical center is being planned for February by his family. Donations can be made to either the Prostate Cancer Foundation or Best Friends Animal Society.

Sincerely,

Robert I. Grossman, MD
Dean and CEO

Steven Abramson, MD
Vice Dean for Education, Faculty and Academic Affairs

Ruth Lehmann, PhD
Director, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine
Chair, Department of Cell Biology


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