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IN MEMORIAM
JAIME N. DELGADO
Jaime N. Delgado
was born on July 28, 1932, in El Paso, Texas. He was the youngest
of four children born to Refugio and Amando Delgado. After graduating
from El Paso High School in January 1950, he attended Texas Western
College, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso, for
one semester, and then transferred to The University of Texas
at Austin. He graduated with a BS in pharmacy in 1954 and married
Celia Davila, his wife and partner for the next 47 years. He
continued at The University of Texas in graduate school, working
under the supervision of Professor Frederick Lofgren on the chemical
stability of pharmaceutical preparations. Jaime received an MS
in pharmacy in 1955. He then journeyed north to the University
of Minnesota, where he received a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry
in 1960 under the supervision of Professor Ole Gisvold. Jaime
was always grateful that he was encouraged to go to Minnesota,
as he considered himself fortunate to study under the best minds
in medicinal chemistry, as well as organic and physical chemistry.
In retrospect, he considered this his wisest decision.
Dr. Delgado returned to The University of Texas in 1959 and joined
the faculty in the College of Pharmacy as an assistant professor.
He steadily
rose through the ranks, becoming an associate professor in 1963 and a full
professor in 1972. He headed the Division of Medicinal Chemistry for more
than ten years and served as graduate advisor in the college from 1969
to 1978. In 1987, the Board of Regents named Dr. Delgado to the Jacques
P. Servier Regents Professorship in Pharmacy in recognition of his many
contributions to medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical education. In 1997,
he was elected to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at The University
of Texas and was honored as a Distinguished Teaching Professor, a permanent
academic title. On September 1, 2001, Jaime became the Jacques P. Servier
Professor Emeritus and officially "retired" from the University. Nonetheless,
he continued to teach elective and graduate courses.
Dr. Delgado left the college, reluctantly, on October 4, 2001, with a cardiovascular
problem. At the time, he was preparing a lecture for his freshman seminar
class, one of his favorite classes. Sadly, he died the next morning. He
was survived by his wife, Celia, and his daughter, Celyna.
Dr. Delgado was an accomplished and productive scientist. His research
concentrated on synthetic medicinal chemistry and structure-activity studies
of oxime ethers, their stereochemistry, and their anticholinergic and anticonvulsant
properties. He significantly increased our knowledge in these areas with
his scholarly contributions. His research results were published in the Journal
of Pharmaceutical Sciences and received national recognition, as indicated
by both his election to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Revision Committee
(1970-1975) and his membership in the USP Convention (1975-1980 and 1980-1985).
He was also invited to contribute a chapter on anticonvulsants to the prestigious
treatise of medicinal chemistry entitled Burger's Medicinal Chemistry (edited
by A. Burger) in 1970. This recognition enhanced the college's reputation,
which facilitated his efforts to attract graduate students and to build
the Division of Medicinal Chemistry. In addition, Dr. Delgado was invited
to serve on study sections for the National Institutes of Health.
There are few who will remember that Jaime built the graduate program in
medicinal chemistry, as well as the Division of Medicinal Chemistry, from
scratch. Dr. Delgado arrived at the college at a time when it was not known
for its research endeavors. Heavy teaching loads made faculty research
difficult. He was one of the first in his generation of assistant professors
at the college to realize that a vigorous graduate program was needed.
He was encouraged in his work to develop the graduate program by his friend,
Dean Lee F. Worrell. Hence, he set out to recruit the best students from
undergraduate classes. Recruitment of these students required enthusiastic
and dynamic lectures, and, as we all know, Jaime was the master. He successfully
attracted many students into the laboratory where their lives were changed
forever. Eventually these students became his colleagues, teaching at universities
throughout the U.S. and the world. They were also his lifelong friends.
At the same time, Jaime recruited young faculty to the college to assist
in his efforts to build a program which became the Division of Medicinal
Chemistry.
He supervised UT's first PhD in medicinal chemistry, Man M. Kochhar,
whose graduation commenced what he considered to be the "golden age" of UT's
medicinal chemistry graduate program. Fourteen more students followed this
first PhD student: Drs. Herbert F. Schwartz, Reynaldo V. Saenz, Fred D.
Reed, Jr., William G. Haney, Jr., Pedro L. Huerta, Jr., Donald L. Middleton,
Gustavo R. Ortega, David B. Garcia, Faith M. Fiedler, Vilas A. Prabhu,
Billie M. York, Jr., Rajni B. Patel, Basil O. Ibe, and Marêa A. Hernöndez
Benêtez. He also supervised a number of MS graduates. This group included
his first MS student, Edward E. Gonzalez, who received his degree in 1960,
followed by Billy B. Wylie, Sushil K. Gomer, Maryam Amini, Jorge Ruiz-Davila,
Hsiao-Chiung Chen, Maria A. Dieck-Assad, Hong-Bin Gung, and Elma Camargo
de Monsalve.
In addition to his research and scholarly activities, Dr. Delgado was an
author and an editor. As an author, Jaime contributed chapters to Burger's
Medicinal Chemistry and Wilson and Gisvold's Textbook of Organic
Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, the "Bibles" of medicinal chemistry.
Much of the material originated from his personal lecture notes. His chapter
on anticonvulsants appeared in the third and fourth editions of Burger's
Medicinal Chemistry. He also contributed chapters to the seventh and
eighth editions of Wilson and Gisvold's Textbook of Organic Medicinal
and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (edited by C. O. Wilson, O. Gisvold, and
R. F. Doerge). While he was proud of these contributions, he considered
his role as coeditor (along with Bill Remers) of the ninth and tenth editions
of the Wilson and Gisvold textbook as one of the milestones of his career.
At the time of his death, he was updating the eleventh edition. This book
is used at several colleges of pharmacy, both in the United States and
abroad. He also contributed chapters to these editions. Jaime was quite
proud of the fact that there is a Chinese translation available.
Although Dr. Delgado had a distinguished career as a scientist,
an author, and an editor, teaching undergraduate and graduate
students was always
his greatest love, and is his professional legacy. Jaime remarked several
times that he was "genetically destined" to become a professor who enjoyed
teaching, because his mother and two aunts were teachers in Chihuahua,
Mexico. Indeed, this genetic destiny was fulfilled and Jaime grew into
a teaching legend among the students and the alumni. Their love for him
was evident from the numerous awards and honors he received. He was repeatedly
recognized for his undergraduate teaching and advising efforts in the College
of Pharmacy. He received five major teaching awards, including three Texas
Excellence Teaching Awards. He was frequently the recipient of the Longhorn
Pharmaceutical Association's "Spoil-a-Faculty of the Month" Award. Dr.
Delgado was also recognized twice as one of the "best" professors at UT
by UTMost (1984 and 1992). He was asked to speak at the college's
commencement. The UT Pharmacy Alumni Association honored him with the "Legend
of Pharmacy Award" in 1995, and the "William J. Sheffield Outstanding Alumnus
Award of the University of Texas Pharmacy Alumni Association" in 1998.
Dr. David Garcia, one of his graduate students, established the Jaime N.
Delgado Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Pharmacy as a tribute to his
mentor and his friend. Students (former and present) visited with him frequently,
sharing their stories and looking to him for advice and mentoring.
Dr. Delgado's classroom theatrics and the "extensive and extemporaneous
use of the chalkboard" were well known. At a reception celebrating the
occasion of Jaime's transition to emeritus status, Jim Doluisio, the former
dean of the college, remarked that "when he is in front of students, he ¥owns
the classroom,' because of his knowledge, his communication skills, and
his deep conviction that the profession of pharmacy must be a science based
profession." Moreover, he continued, "In his classes, chalk breaks and
chalk dust fills the front rows, and no one can emphasize an important
point like Jaime." This occasion was also celebrated by the creation of
the Jaime N. Delgado Endowed Presidential Fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry
by Jaime's former students, friends, family, and colleagues. This fellowship
was established to provide support for graduate students in medicinal chemistry,
which delighted Jaime.
Dr. Delgado also served as a much-loved faculty advisor to student
organizations. He served as the faculty advisor for MAAPS—the Mexican-American Association
of Pharmacy Students—and the Mexican American Health Professions Organization.
The latter organization recognized him as Outstanding Professor in 1995.
His role as an educator went beyond The University of Texas. He traveled
extensively throughout Mexico and South America, providing lectures on
pharmaceutical education. Jaime first served as a visiting professor at
the Universidad de los Andes (Merida, Venezuela) in 1982. Subsequently,
he inaugurated the MS program there and continued to participate in the
program in 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 1992. In 1994, one of his former
students, Dr. Jorge Ruiz-Davila, invited him to the La Universidad Nacional
de Trujillo, Peru, as a visiting professor. He presented a three-week intensive
course in medicinal chemistry to the faculty and students. He also presented
research seminars at the Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco
and La Universidad de Arequipa. During the summer of 2000, Dr. Delgado
returned to Peru to present two intensive courses in medicinal chemistry.
He served as visiting professor at the University of Nuevo Leon and the
Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico, where he presented seminars
on recent advances in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical education.
During 1996-1997, Dr. Delgado worked with the Texas International Education
Consortium in the complete reformation of the curricula of the Facultad
de Ciencias Quimicas de La Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. He was always
fascinated by the differences in pharmacy practice and pharmacy education.
Dr. Delgado firmly believed that undergraduate teaching and successful
graduate programs were not mutually exclusive, but went hand in hand. His
favorite example was a story from his own experience. His lectures on the
biochemistry and structure-activity relationships of progesterone and androstene-3,17-dione
were always among his favorites. One day after one of these lectures, he
returned to the lab to wash the chalk off his hands and replayed the lecture
in his head. At that point, it occurred to him that the androstenedione
structure could be a useful skeleton to use as a basis for the attachment
of anti-acetylcholine pharmacophores. As a result, David Garcia synthesized
oxime-ether derivatives of androstenedione, which proved to be effective
neuromuscular blockers. This work was cited in the Handbook of Experimental
Pharmacology, Volume 79, Chapter 12, "Steroid Derivatives." The volume,
published in 1986 and edited by D. A. Kharkevich, is entitled New Neuromuscular
Blocking Agents.
Jaime was a very private person. However, it was clear that he was tremendously
proud of his wife, Celia, and his daughter, Celyna. All three were graduates
of The University of Texas College of Pharmacy, and Celia and Celyna remain
staunch supporters of the college and of the University. Jaime supported
Celia's work to help the needy, and Celyna's endeavor to become a pharmacist
and, shortly thereafter, an obstetrician-gynecologist. He was fortunate
to be both her father and her teacher in the College of Pharmacy. Jaime,
Celia, and Celyna were all members of the Generation Club. In 1997, Celia
and Celyna established the Jaime N. Delgado Endowed Professorship in Pharmacy,
as a lasting tribute to a husband and a father.
Jaime was always a gentleman: one who never raised his voice and treated
all with respect and dignity. If he objected to a new policy in the college
or a decision in the division, he voiced his objection, sometimes strongly,
but then he moved on, and never bore a grudge. He encouraged and supported
young faculty, and celebrated their promotions. Jaime had an insatiable
intellectual curiosity and he shared his knowledge enthusiastically. Jaime
enriched the lives of many. This was his gift to us. He is greatly missed.
<signed>
Larry R. Faulkner,
President
The University of Texas at Austin
<signed>
John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty
This memorial resolution was prepared by a special committee consisting
of Professors Christian P. Whitman (chair), Salomon A. Stavchansky, and
David B. Garcia.
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