In Memoriam Doctor Hugo Aréchiga Urtuzuástegui
This issue of Cellular and Molecular Neuobiology is dedicated to the memory of Prof Hugo Aréchiga Urtuzuástegui on his first death anniversary. Hugo died while teaching a neurobiology course under the auspices of IBRO at Izmir, Turkey, on September 15, 2003, when he suddenly suffered a massive heart attack. In this issue some of us who had the good fortune to know Hugo and interact with him in teaching, administration, and research, wish to dedicate these papers as a sign of immense regard and friendship for our friend and colleague. Our papers, as expected, cover a wide range of topics and reflect his own broad interest in neurobiology. Hugo was a wonderful person by virtue of his warmth, sense of fun, dedication to research and teaching, and extraordinary depth in culture in arts as well as inscience. It is not easy to convey the impact he had on our lives and the profound impressions that he left on us. Hugo not only worked in the lab with great imagination and skill on his favorite problems, circadian rhythms and animal behavior, but also collaborated with great success on a variety of topics relating to neuronal activity regulation, synaptic transmission, and optical recording with colleagues around the world. In his administrative work, his firm, clear, positive, and effective character evoked universal respect and admiration. He got things done and brought out the best in people. He served on essential university committees, played a key role in running major scientific academies of science and medicine, and traveled extensively to lecture and teach. Yet he alays had time for friends, to whom he transmitted his wisdom, warmth, joy of music, literature, art, and history. Hugo had been trained originally as a physician in Mexico City, but he very soon became passionate about physiology. A short stay at the laboratory of Prof C.A.G. Wiersma at Caltech introduced him to the theme and animal he worked on for most of his life, the circadian rhythms and crayfish. He also developed a great interest in graduate education, and in his drive to improve the teaching and research conditions at Mexico and other countries, he took on many administrative tasks, which he somehow fitted in while maintaining an active laboratory. He worked intensively for long hours and always found time for human interactions with a large number of painters, musicians, and historians who constituted his circle. In his travels he met the authors of these papers, whose lives he touched. We submit these papers not only to honor Hugo Aréchiga but also to allow us to remember that wonderful, mysterious, and brilliant man. Thank you Hugo. Education: MD, 1964, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM); PhD, 1974, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), México. Postdoctoral, 1967-1968, California Institute of Technology with Prof C.A.G. Wiersma. Academic positions: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, School of Medicine, UNAM; Professor (1974-1992), Chairman (1978-1992), CINVESTAV; Professor & Dean (1993-2004), UNAM; Visiting professor at universities and institutes: Liverpool, Texas Venezuela, Harvard, Rice, New York, Switzerland, Jerusalem, Italy, Spain. IBRO courses in India, Nigeria, Uruguay, Havana, Vietnam, Iran, Poland, and Turkey. Societies: Sociedad Mexicana de Ciencias Fisiológicas, Secretary (1971-1972), Vice President (1975-1977), President (1977-1979): Sociedad Mexicana de Historia de la Ciencia y la Tecnología (1970-2003); Society for Neuroscience, Committee on Education (1975-1977, 1989-1992), Program Committee (1977-1980); Asociación Latinoamericana de Ciencias Fisiológicas, President (1977), General Secretary (1981), Scientific Committee (2000); Academia de la Investigación Científica, Vice President (1988-1989), President (1990-1991); IBRO (1976-2003; International Society of Chronobiology (1978-2003); Academia Nacional de Medicina, Vice Presidente (1993-1994), Presidente (1994-1995); Academia de Ciencias de América Latina (1983-2003), Presidente (1998-2001); Real Academia Nacional de Medicina de España (1994-2003); Real Academia de Medicina de Cataluña (1994-2003); Third World Academy of Sciences (1997-2003). Awards: Cámara de la Industria Farmacéutica (1975); Academia de la Investigación Científica (1979); Guggenheim Fellowship (1981); Presidente Honorario del Congreso Mexicano de Psicología; International Leadership of Association for Policy, Research and Development in the Third World (1990); Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (1984-2003); Vice President of the Network of Scientific Organizations from Third World (1990-1992); Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes (1992); Consejo Consultivo de Ciencias de la Presidencia de México (1992-2003); Comité Interinstitucional para la Evaluación de la Educación Superior (1998-2003); Cátedra Patrimonial de Excelencia de CONACyT (1994-2003); Coordinador del Programa de Investigación Estratégica de Salud (1995-2001). Publications: More than 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, 19 chapters in books, and 3 books. |
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