The Duke Medical Alumni Association honored James B. Wyngaarden, MD, professor emeritus and former chair of the Duke Department of Medicine as well as former director of the National Institutes of Health, earlier this month during Medical Alumni Weekend. Dr. Wyngaarden died on June 14 at the age of 94.
See the video remembering Dr. Wyngaarden
[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMkdfmLQV34&feature=youtu.be]
Wyngaarden was a towering figure in medicine and an exceptional leader at Duke. He was an internationally recognized authority on the regulation of purine biosynthesis and the genetics of gout and a nationally respected advocate for the role of physician-scientists in clinical investigations.
Wyngaarden served as chair of Medicine at Duke for 15 years, then left in 1982 to be the twelfth director of the NIH. He served in that role until 1989 and returned to Duke to be associate vice chancellor for health affairs from 1990 to 1994.