[3dem] Sad news about Ken Downing

[Masahide Kikkawa]

Dear all,

It is really a sad news to hear that Ken passed away. 
We share interest in microtubules and cryo-electron microscopy and wrote a paper  back in 1996 together.
I have learned a lot from him every time I had a chance to visit Donner lab at LNBL. 

In addition to being an outstanding scientist Ken was a gentleman. 
Following is the e-mail sent by Ken after the 2011 East Japan great earthquake:

=======================================================
Dear Masahide,
    I have been wondering how you were affected by the earthquake and following problems, and it is very nice to hear that the personal impact on you has not been so great.  But I certainly understand that you and the whole country must be greatly stressed in the aftermath of the tsunami and with the reactor problems.  I hope you are getting better news coverage than we are - there seems to be a general assumption in the US media that Americans are not smart enough to deal with numbers, so we get reports that the radioactive fallout has reached us, but with no indication that it is still x orders of magnitude below levels we need to worry about.  So of course we don't get any indication of the levels in Japan.  In any case I hope that the effects on you and those close to you are small.  Even though we now that life for so many will never be "normal" again, our thoughts and prayers are with you all for good recovery.
            Best regards,
            Ken
=======================================================

---------------------------------------------------------------
Masahide Kikkawa, M.D., Ph. D.
Professor
Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy
Graduate School of Medicine
The University of Tokyo
http://structure.m.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
tel: +81-3-5841-3338
fax: +81-3-5841-3339
———————————————————————————————


> On Aug 5, 2018, at 7:23, Evangel Nogales De La Morena <enogales at lbl.gov> wrote:
> 
> 
> Dear all, 
> 
> It is with great sadness and disbelief that we write to let you know that Ken Downing passed away last night, peacefully, at his house, surrounded by his loving family.
> 
> Ken made numerous contributions to our field and was respected and loved by everyone that knew him. His unique sense of humor, his kindness and his insights will be deeply missed.
> 
> Eva Nogales and Sharon Wolf
> 
> <Downing_lab_picture_GRC_2003.jpg><DSCF1890_small.jpg>
> 
> 
> Eva Nogales 
> Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology
> Molecular and Cell Biology Department, UC Berkeley
> Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
> Senior Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
> (510)642-0557
> enogales at lbl.gov
> URL: cryoem.berkeley.edu
> 
> Assistant: Teresa Tucker, ttucker at berkeley.edu, (510)666-3334
> 
> 
> 
> 
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