Former Ohio University professor Robert Rakowski, a distinguished physiologist, died Tuesday of a heart attack at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital.
Even with his prestige in the field of biophysics, Rakowski, 66, was an approachable teacher, said Mary Chamberlin, an OU professor who worked with Rakowski.
He was a really kind teacher
almost fatherly with students she said.
He came to OU in 2000 and served as a professor and department chair for the biological sciences department. He stepped down as chair in 2005 but continued to research and teach, said Susan Wagner-Svendsen, department administrator.
Before coming to OU, he taught at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis.
He worked as a visiting scientist for the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany, from 1989 to 1992.
He also served as a post-doctoral fellow at the Yale School of Medicine in 1972 and later at the University of Cambridge in 1974.
Rakowski was a U.S. Air Force captain who served in the Vietnam War. He completed his undergraduate education at Cornell University and received his Ph. D from the University of Rochester in 1972.
His research was related to the biophysics of the transportation pumps of sodium and potassium ions across cell membranes in animal cells. These pumps are found in almost all animal cells and are responsible for maintaining the proper concentrations of ions in the body.
The National Institutes of Health had funded his research for more than 25 years, said Ralph DiCaprio, department chair.
Rakowski also contributed to a variety of textbooks and scholarly journals.
Rakowski was a good department chair and coworker, Chamberlin said.
He really tried to meet everyone's needs; he did great things even though chairing a department can be a thankless job she said.
Rakowski was teaching Biological Sciences 171, an introductory course and advising graduate students, DiCaprio said.
It's a tough time; we're just trying to deal with this loss and make sure that all of his students and graduate students are taken care of
DiCaprio said.
Other faculty members will teach the course through the end of the quarter, DiCaprio said.
Rakowski is survived by his wife, Linda, and three grown children. His family is planning a memorial service, but the date has not been announced.
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Robert Rakowski
