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OBITUARY: DR. SAMUEL SHERMAN SPICER,
JR.
Dr. Samuel Sherman Spicer, Jr., 94, passed away
on Monday, August 19, 2008, in Charleston, South
Carolina. Dr. Spicer was born August 12, 1914 in
Denver, Colorado. He received his BS and MD degrees
from the University of Colorado and completed his
internship at the University of Wisconsin General
Hospital. In 1940, Dr. Spicer was commissioned as
an Assistant Surgeon in the US Public Health
Service and assigned to the National Institutes of
Health in Bethesda, Maryland where he eventually
served as Chief of the Section of Biophysical
Histology in the Laboratory of Experimental
Pathology. Arrival in Bethesda led to his marriage
to Gertrude E. McRae and three children, Kenneth,
Eleanor, and Sam, Jr. Upon retirement from the
Public Health Service in 1966, Dr. Spicer was
appointed as a Professor of Pathology at the
Medical University of South Carolina where he
continued on as a Professor Emeritus until his
death. While at the NIH, Sam's initial research
interests concerned dietary induction of folic acid
deficiency in rats and contractile mechanisms of
skeletal muscle proteins, the latter in a
laboratory established by Dr. Albert Szent-Gy?rgyi.
His work on skeletal muscle led to an early
interest in electron microscopy, an emerging
technique that he utilized throughout his career.
Subsequent training in histopathology at the George
Washington University Hospital and the Armed Forces
Institute of Pathology was followed by an
opportunity, in Dr. Ralph D. Lillie's laboratory,
to utilize his biochemical and morphological
background in the new field of histochemistry.
Dr. Spicer was an early member of the
Histochemical Society and served on the Council and
the Editorial Board of the Journal of
Histochemistry and Cytochemistry and as President
of the Society in 1982. Sam's accomplishments in
the field of histochemistry are well known to many
members of the Society as well as to members of the
Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO).
He presented original research at almost every
annual meeting of the Society and attended the
first nine International Congresses on
Histochemistry and Cytochemistry. During his tenure
as President of the Society, he organized the First
Joint American-Japanese Meeting in Vancouver. The
continuation of these joint meetings with the
Japanese was a major success and contributed
greatly to the viability and visibility of the
Society. It is my firm conviction that no member of
the Society has done more to advance the field of
histochemistry and cytochemistry than Dr. Samuel
Spicer and for this we owe him a great debt. He
authored more than 460 original research papers,
book chapters and review articles over a career
spanning 65 years. Almost without exception these
publications employed some type of histochemical
technique to explore a wide range of basic cell
biological and histopathological problems. The
impact of these publications is underscored by the
fact that Dr. Spicer was listed by Current Contents
as one of the most 500 cited authors over the two
decades spanning the 1970 and 1980's.
One of Dr. Spicer's major areas of interest was
in understanding the structure and function of cell
and tissue glycoconjugates through the development
and application of specific histochemical methods
for localizing these substances to precise cellular
and subcellular sites. His knowledge and
contributions, however, were not limited to
carbohydrate histochemistry alone, but rather
spanned the entire field of histochemistry
including the development and use of enzyme
histochemical methods and the development of the
unlabeled antibody-enzyme bridge technique of
immunocytochemistry. Sam applied these techniques
to the study of histopathological changes in a wide
range of cell types and disorders including cystic
fibrosis, various types of cancers and, in his
latter years, age-related hearing loss.
Dr. Spicer's many contributions were recognized
by his receipt of several prestigious awards
including an honorary Doctor of Medicine degree
from the University of Linboping, Sweden in 1977.
In 1982, he received an award from the Japanese
Society for the Promotion of Science funding 3
months of travel to speak and consult at 14 major
Japanese Universities and in 1988 he received an
award at the 8th International Congress of
Histochemistry and Cytochemistry for "pioneering"
advances in the development and application of
histochemical methods. In 1991, Dr. Spicer was
presented with the Gomori Award from the
Histochemical Society, in 1992 he was selected to
deliver the Glick Lecture at the 9th International
Congress of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry and in
1998 he received an Honorary Doctor of Science
Degree from the Medical University of South
Carolina.
Sam was also a gifted teacher and mentored a
large number of students, fellows and visiting
scientists who continue to make valuable
contributions to our field. He will be greatly
missed by his family, friends and colleagues but we
are consoled in the knowledge that he led a full
and fruitful life. Memorials in honor of Dr. Spicer
can be sent to the Medical Univeristy of South
Carolina Foundation, Department of Pathology and
Laboratory Medicine, P.O. Box 250450, Charleston,
SC 29425. Proceeds from this fund will support an
annual Samuel S. Spicer, Jr. Endowed
Lectureship.
Bradley A. Schulte
August 25, 2008
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