Don Voet (1938–2023)

With the death of Donald Voet in April, the biochemistry community lost one of its stars. Don’s many accomplishments were the product of his deep love of biochemistry as well as his remarkable dedication.

ASBMB

Don Voet co-authored the textbook "Biochemistry," first published in 1990, with his wife, Judith Voet.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (where Linus Pauling was his chemistry professor) and a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard, Don conducted postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent the rest of his academic career as a professor of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

Don’s research in X-ray crystallography, his understanding of a wide array of topics in biochemistry and his years of experience as an instructor impelled him to collaborate with his wife, Judith Voet, a biochemistry professor at Swarthmore College, to write a comprehensive textbook called simply “Biochemistry.” Legions of graduate and undergraduate students have benefitted from this work, first published in 1990.

Don’s commitment to education went far beyond textbooks. He and Judy Voet served as co-editors-in-chief of the journal Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, and in 2012 they received the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education. In addition, both Voets were longtime judges for the Undergraduate Poster Competition at ASBMB meetings, where they were treated like celebrities by the students and former students who had read their textbooks. 

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Judith Voet, Suzanne Pfeffer (ASBMB president 2010–2012) and Don Voet at the ASBMB annual meeting in 2012, the year the Voets received the society's Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.

I write this tribute as the third partner in a textbook collaboration that extended for roughly 25 years; I will allow others to speak more knowledgeably about Don’s life as a researcher, professor and collaborator in other ventures.

Like many biochemists in the 1990s, I was familiar with “Biochemistry,” my go-to source for all biochemical wisdom. It stood out from other books because the authors focused on chemistry and refused to reduce the mechanistic details of biochemical processes to black-box status. I was both thrilled and intimidated to be invited in 1996 to join the Voets in producing a smaller textbook, “Fundamentals of Biochemistry.”

ASBMB

Don Voet speaks at the ASBMB annual meeting in 2012. He and Judy Voet judged the undergraduate poster contest for many years and often met starstruck students who had used their textbooks.

Don’s work over the years demonstrated his conviction that biochemical knowledge has limited value unless it is transmitted fully and honestly to the next generation of scientists. His writing style was intentionally aimed at students of all levels, never dumbed down, and straightforward — a way to invite readers to enter a conversation among professional scientists.

Ever collegial, Don insisted on dropping names into the text, referring to the discoveries of specific researchers wherever possible and borrowing figures from the original publications rather than rendering simplified versions. In cases where visual information was lacking, Don created his own molecular graphics, at a time when modeling software was not accessible to amateurs.

From my perspective, Don had an unlimited appetite for acquiring information. I can only imagine the vast size of his library of research papers. At our occasional in-person meetings, I was invariably impressed by his erudition in a variety of nonscience areas. His curiosity extended far beyond the molecular world; he went on expeditions to Antarctica, up mountains, under the sea, and to other destinations too numerous to list, where he swam, skied, hiked and dived.

As a writer, Don was exacting and precise. Although I doubt that anyone keeps track of such things, I believe his written works were largely error-free. He was unwilling to compromise on quality or accuracy, no matter how anxious the pleas of editors who were focused on deadlines and page counts.

In the early years, we shipped paper manuscripts back and forth. Some of those pages made their way to my scrap paper pile, and I occasionally find that the reverse side of a sheet on which I am scribbling bears Don’s edits in red ink, often liberally applied. These bring a smile to my face and remind me to attend to the details in my own work.

I consider myself fortunate to have been able to collaborate with and learn from Don, and I will miss him.

ASBMB

Judy and Don Voet talk to Joan Steitz of Yale University at the 2015 ASBMB annual meeting.