Remembering Don Kennedy, Human Biologist

Don Kennedy, who passed away four years ago, was founder of the  unique Human Biology program at Stanford University, where he served as a role model as arguably the most influential teacher of his generation, particularly teaching about intersections of biology, ecology and policies.  In addition to teaching a unique interdisciplinary program, Kennedy also served as the head of the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and  President of Stanford University.

What was remarkable about Kennedy was his obvious love of scientific discovery, evident to his students as he himself kept learning while teaching about all the different sciences that fed into the multi-disciplinary Human Biology program he led.  This infectious curiosity led him to be an ideal lecturer, department head, university president and Food and Drug Commissioner for the US.  He served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1977–79). At the FDA Kennedy’s efforts toward comprehensive drug regulation reform helped modernize the regulatory framework to ensure public safety and efficacy of pharmaceuticals.

As Stanford President, he led the university’s Centennial fundraising campaign.  He established overseas campuses in Kyoto, Oxford, and Berlin, broadening Stanford’s global reach.  Later in his career he was senior fellow at Stanford’s Center on Food Security and Environment.  He wrote a seminal monograph  “Environmental Quality and Regional Security” for the prestigious Carnegie Preventing Deadly Violence Project.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remembers “I first met Don when I was a first-year professor.  Imagine what it was like to have the President of the University know your name and what you would be teaching.  I was blown away.  He was a terrific leader because he always cared first and foremost about students, faculty and staff.  Don was an important influence on me and on the way I tried to lead.  I learned a lot from him.”

As Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine (2000–08) he set a standard for promoting the application of science in public policy.  Professor Wally Falcon (who directed Stanford’s Food Policy Institute, and who passed away in 2023), remembers: “Don had a truly amazing capacity to generate 1,000 word essays for the Science editorial page.  And he did it week after week.  He would stroll into my office, saying I am thinking about a topic, we would talk about it, and the next day an amazing draft would appear.  Most Science editorials go unread; Don’s were looked forward to with anticipation.  In the cogent-1,000 word—overnight—scientific-writing genre, he had no peer!”  Ahead of his time, he observed to his students in the 1970s that “global warming has already been observed”   as seen fifty seconds into this retrospective:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah3B1_gCPoA

Dr. Seth Foldy, a campus leader on many policy issues, and global physician/ epidemiologist, remembers “My biggest recollection of Don Kennedy was how much he believed in us as students.  During a revision of the HumBio Core in 1975-6 he basically gave me and a few other TAs nearly full control of the Spring semester focused on health policy.  4 groups of students had to develop policy solutions; one group I oversaw  had to design the national health plan they thought would produce best results.”  Another student remembers:  “I will never forget Donald Kennedy getting up on the lab table at the front of the lecture hall and assuming a quadruped position to demonstrate to us the concepts of dorsal, ventral, cephalo, and caudal.   His first concern was always with teaching effectively, not preserving his dignity.”

Kennedy told the Stanford Daily:  “Teaching is when you plan a course; you invite some other people in to lecture; you create an intellectually coherent and stimulating whole; you develop readings; you develop challenging examinations; you read people’s …papers and you write in the margins — that’s teaching.”

His wife recalled that “he was one of those triple threat guys:  brilliant teacher, brilliant researcher and brilliant administrator.”  He told the Stanford Daily newspaper that he wanted “to be a cultivator of enthusiasm and a good agent of consensus.”  That he did.  He charismatically instilled enthusiasm for learning, by example, in all his lectures.

Professor Falcon remembers Don as being exceptionally kind with his time for his handicapped son, Phillip.   “Don spent hours with him, talking about all manner of things.  Don spoke at Phillip’s memorial service and also arranged for a special appearance of the Stanford singing group that Phillip so enjoyed.  This personal story is part of a larger point having to do with the affection young people had for Don.  The world is a much poorer place without Don Kennedy.”

A neurobiologist by training, Kennedy received his PhD in biology from Harvard in 1956 and came to Stanford in 1960, where he Chaired the Department of Biology (1964–72), then the Program in Human Biology (1973–77), served as Provost (1979-80), President of the University (1980–92), and Bing Professor of Environmental Science.

Foldy also remembers:  “He was also very funny in a dry way.  I remember him in lecture going through all the biofeedback loops that resulted in his sweating only AFTER showering, after a four-mile Dish run.”

Dr. Eric Noji, who led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global humanitarian work, and served in the White House, remembers:  “Professor Kennedy was a mentor and inspiration to me both personally and professionally while I was an undergraduate at Stanford.  We shared a passion for birdwatching and I met him on a Saturday birding field trip to Jasper Ridge as a freshman.  He later asked me to teach an undergraduate special entitled “field ornithology” which by my senior year had over 40 students!  It was his strong encouragement that led me to pursue a career in biology and medical school.  A day rarely passes when I don‘t think of him, a gifted and rare man who has influenced generations of students at Stanford.”

The alumni of the Human Biology program, which Kennedy co-founded, created this online memorial to him:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y6-wnoK2AZp3CH4wLSVTxcBASJtuWHSz/view 

Kennedy’s own Memoir, A Place in the Sun, derives its title from his love of family and work, ability to share the light, and interact with so many brilliant colleagues.

SHansch