It is with great sadness that I write to tell you of the death of Tony Fink, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Tony died on Sunday following a year-long illness.
During Tony's forty-year career in academia he made many contributions to the field of biophysical chemistry. With more than 200 scientific publications, 20 book chapters, and three books, he was a world authority on protein folding. Mistakes in this molecular process lead to degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease. Tony's research was to understand what goes wrong and to design treatments to repair the damage or prevent it from happening. He worked tirelessly towards the goal of designing potential drugs and therapeutic methods to combat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
Widely respected in the scientific community for his research accomplishments. Tony received many invitations to give talks on his research and was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 2004. He won the BioSTAR Outreach Ambassador of the Year Award in 2002 and the Division of Physical & Biological Sciences' Outstanding Faculty Award in 2007.
Well respected by both graduate and undergraduate students for his teaching, approachability and command of the subjects, Tony mentored more than 60 graduate students, over 50 postdoctoral associates, and more than 150 undergraduates.
Tony provided extraordinary service to his department, the campus and his professional community. He served as a preceptor at Merrill College and as the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Chair. His service included participation on numerous senate committees over the years and he was a regularly invited reviewer of journal articles, books and proposals as well as study sections and panels for NSF and NIH.
Tony was an avid bike rider as well as an accomplished fine-art photographer, exhibiting his work in Santa Cruz County's Open Studios.
Throughout Tony's career, he conducted groundbreaking research, provided outstanding teaching on all levels and contributed exemplary service to the biophysical chemistry communities as well as to our campus. We were fortunate to have had him as a colleague and friend.
We do not yet have any information regarding memorial services that may be planned.
Please join me in expressing our sincere condolences to Tony's wife, Shirley, his daughter Christa, other family members and his many colleagues and friends.
