Orange Alert

In Memory of Arnold J. Kahn

Portrait of Arnold Kahn.

Posted on: June 16, 2021

Word has reached us of the passing of Arnold J. Kahn, on June 16, 2021, in San Rafael, CA, just two days before what would have been his 85th birthday. He had been battling lymphoma according to his family.

Dr. Kahn joined the Department of Zoology as an assistant professor in 1964, following completion of his Ph.D. in genetics and cell biology at Columbia University and a postdoctoral year at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Kahn's research at SU was on development and differentiation employing the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. He taught an embryology course and lab as well as special topics courses.

Thoru Pederson, a graduate student at the time recalls: "In his outgoing manner, Arnie took a liking to several of us students, including frequent pick-up basketball games in which he was both accomplished and intense. I visited his lab frequently and had I not already committed to do my Ph.D. in another lab, I would have gladly joined his. (I also admired the dexterity by which he could keep ashes from his pipe out of the Dictyostelium cultures.)"

Dr. Kahn was promoted to Associate Professor in 1968 and, following a subsequent sabbatical year at Washington University School of Medicine, moved there in 1970. His research focus increasingly turned to bone developmental biology and ultimately the biology of aging, which continued to be his field for the remainder of his career, culminating at the University of California, San Francisco, the Longevity Consortium (California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute) and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, CA. He was active in many professional organizations including the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (serving as Counselor 1986-1988 and Secretary/Treasurer 1991-1997), the American Society of Cell Biology, and FASEB.