[Arabidopsis] In Memoriam: Simon Chan

[Jacobsen, Steve]

Dear Colleagues:

It is with great sadness that I write to report the death of our colleague,=
 Simon Chan.  Simon, 38, passed away on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 after a =
brief illness.  He is survived by his parents, Avril and Robert Chan, and s=
ister, Caron Chan.

Simon was one of the most talented, honest, and kind individuals that I hav=
e had the pleasure of working with.  Simon spent several years in my labora=
tory as a postdoctoral fellow and left a huge imprint on our lab, our scien=
ce, and our lives.

Simon was also one of the most promising young plant biologists of his gene=
ration.  In June 2011, Simon was among the first plant scientists selected =
for the inaugural class of investigators funded jointly by HHMI and the Gor=
don and Betty Moore Foundation to support innovative research in the plant =
sciences, and he was also the youngest recipient, consistent with the fast =
trajectory of his research career. Simon used Arabidopsis and other plants =
to understand how chromosomes are inherited during cell division. He discov=
ered ways to dramatically speed up the breeding of plants for desirable tra=
its and developed new plant-breeding tools by manipulating the properties o=
f genetic inheritance.

Simon received his B.SC. from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, hi=
s Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and carried out h=
is postdoctoral research at UCLA.  He joined the faculty of the Department =
of Plant Biology in the College of Biological Sciences at UC, Davis in 2006=
.

Simon was honored with several awards, including the American Society of Pl=
ant Biology Early Career Award and a Basil O=92Connor Starter Scholar Award=
 from the March of Dimes.  He was an HHMI Predoctoral Fellow from 1997-2002=
 and a Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow from 2003 to 2=
006.

Simon will be remembered for his scientific brilliance, lively spirit, and =
contributions to promoting plant science.

---------------------
Steve Jacobsen
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Dept of MCD Biology
Terasaki Life Sciences Building
610 Charles E. Young Dr. East
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-7239
Office: 310 825-0182    Lab: 310 206-3336
http://www.mcdb.ucla.edu/Research/Jacobsen/LabWebSite/index.html