Fred Sherman (1932-2013)

Fred Sherman was famous not only for his extraordinary scientific accomplishments but for his inspirational training of many scientists. He died on September 16, 2013 at the age of 81. Fred was a proponent of the use of baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a genetic model system of eukaryotic cells. Budding yeast are now used at virtually all research centers worldwide, largely due to Fred's efforts and mentoring of many of the leaders in the field. Indeed this year's Nobel prize winner, Randy Schekman, was introduced to yeast in the Cold Spring Harbor course Fred co-taught for 17 summers with his friend and colleague Gerry Fink. Many of the students and postdocs who were trained in Fred's own laboratory also helped shape the field of yeast genetics. Fred taught by example how to think science, how to do it and how to enjoy it. He lived life fully, with joy, humor and dance (ballet), and without ever really separating life from science.