Dear members of the ciliate research community,

Today I was deeply saddened to receive a phone call from Jean Nanney informing me of the passing away of David L. Nanney, my PhD mentor and almost a second parent to me. For newcomers to our field, David established the field of Tetrahymena genetics, and made seminal contributions to Tetrahymena biology. As a PhD student of Tracy M. Sonneborn -- the initiator of the microbial genetics field -- David contributed to the early understanding of epigenetics in Paramecium. His legacy remains a foundation for much of the exciting on-going scientific work in our field.

Sadly yours,

Eduardo Orias

Research Professor,

Dept. of MCD Biology,

University of California Santa Barbara