Annals of Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 44, No. 11, November 2016 (Ó 2016) pp. 3155–3156 DOI: 10.1007/s10439-016-1744-x

Obituary

J. David Hellums J. David Hellums, the A.J. Hartsook Professor Emeritus in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and of Bioengineering, former dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University, and a pioneer in cardiovascular and biomedical research, died June 26 at the age of 86. Hellums joined Rice as an assistant professor of chemical engineering in 1960, after serving 3 years in the United States Air Force as a statistical services officer and 3 years as a process engineer for Mobil Oil Company, Beaumont, TX. Within a couple of years into his Rice appointment, he was recruited to apply his knowledge of engineering fundamentals to seek solutions to the bleeding and clotting problems associated with cardiovascular prostheses and the first successful implantation of a left-ventricular bypass pump by Dr. Michael E. DeBakey. As a principal investigator, Hellums has been known worldwide for his biomedical research that has brought dimensional insight to clinical applications in hemostasis and thrombosis. He had long-term adjunct appointments in the Departments of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and at the University of Texas Medical Schools. He was one of the first engineers to establish collaborative research projects between engineers at Rice and physician—scientists in hematology at BCM. The collaborative efforts transformed medicine and reduced the risk for heart attack and stroke. As an early biomedical engineer, Hellums introduced engineering concepts and instruments to measure fluid mechanics in blood—circulatory forces such as mass, acceleration, and viscous friction. He conducted analytical studies to measure the effects of shear stress, vessel wall tension, oxygen-carbon dioxide transfer, and the blood’s biophysical responses to changes in environment at multiple lengths of scale. He mapped blood responses to substitutes and anticoagulant drugs, and helped advance transfusion medicine. The work credited him as the first engineer to receive a Merit Research Award from the National Institutes of Health, a 10-year grant that was extended twice for a total of 20 years of funding. In addition to his tremendous skill in cutting-edge biomedical research, Hellums will be remembered for his compelling dedication to teaching and academic

administration. He co-founded the Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering in 1968, which was endowed the J.W. Cox Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering in 1980, and served as its director for 12 years. He was chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1970 to 1976, and dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering from 1980 to 1988. He was a founding member of Rice’s Department of Bioengineering in 1997, and served as chair of the department from 2003 to 2005. Under Hellums’ leadership the Rice University Department of Bioengineering has risen as a top-tier teaching and research institution with an interdisciplinary core of 28 highly-productive research and teaching faculty members. Hellums received numerous recognitions over his long career. He was an adviser to the National Institutes of Health, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a founding fellow of the American Institute of Medical 3155 0090-6964/16/1100-3155/0

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and Biological Engineering, and a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society. He received the 1993 Whitaker Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and was designated eminent scientist by the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Japan, where he has held visiting professorships.

Hellums was from Stamford, Texas. He earned both a B.S. and an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.