HR1177 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1177 LRB093 23393 HSS 53425 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of Dr. Stanley Yachnin on Monday, August 30, 2004; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Yachnin was born on June 28, 1930 and raised in Brooklyn, New York in a devout Jewish household; he attended Midwood High School as well as the Yeshiva in the borough's Flatbush district; and

WHEREAS, From 1947 to 1950, he studied at Cornell University, but without earning a degree; instead of graduating from Cornell, Dr. Yachnin opted to go straight to medical school at New York University, where he earned his medical degree in 1954 and was first in his class; and

WHEREAS, His residency training was interrupted when he served two years as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps; he was stationed in a small town outside of Paris, where he cared for ailing soldiers, learned French, and cultivated a lifelong interest in wines and food; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Yachnin met and married his wife, Irene, during his residency; she preceded him in death 1972; and

WHEREAS, He resumed medical training in 1958, completing his residency and a fellowship in hematology in 1961 at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, part of the Harvard system; he became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago in 1961 and spent his entire career there, helping to build a small hematology-oncology section into one of the world's leading clinical cancer research groups; he became section chief of hematology in 1966, a full professor in 1969, and chief of the combined section of hematology and oncology from 1972 to 1982; he retired in 1996, having recruited many physicians and scientists to the section; he also served as a member and chairman of the university committee that approves faculty appointments and promotions, and from 1988 to 1996 directed the Pew program, one of the earliest interdisciplinary graduate programs for students interested in completing both an M.D. and a Ph.D.; and

WHEREAS, Much of Dr. Yachnin's work concentrated on blood cells and related disorders; during the 1960s, he explored paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare disease that leads to anemia, bleeding in urine while asleep, and potentially deadly blood clots; his 1970s research took him into the biochemistry of lymphocyte transformation, how white blood cells respond to infections; and

WHEREAS, Inside the laboratory, Dr. Yachnin demanded not only high standards and thorough research from his students and assistants, but also a reverence and exactitude in their use of English in their science; and

WHEREAS, The passing of Dr. Yachnin has been deeply felt by many, especially his children, Benson (Melinda) Yachnin and Catherine (Addison) Braendel; and his grandchildren Noah, Clea, William Braendel, and Emma Yachnin; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Dr. Stanley Yachnin, and we are grateful for the many contributions he made to the medical community and cancer research; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dr. Yachnin as an expression of our sincerest condolences for their loss.