James H. Strauss Jr. (PhD ’67), the Ethel Wilson Bowles and Robert Bowles Professor of Biology, Emeritus, passed away.
Strauss’s research focused on the replication and assembly of two types of enveloped RNA viruses: alphaviruses and flaviviruses. These types of viruses include those that cause encephalitis, yellow fever, dengue fever, and other human diseases.
After completing his bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s University in 1960, Strauss arrived at Caltech for his PhD, which he completed in 1967. He joined the Caltech faculty as an assistant professor in 1969 and become an associate professor in 1975, professor in 1983, Bowles Professor in 1993, and Bowles Professor Emeritus in 2007. Strauss served as executive officer for molecular and cellular biology from 1980 to 1989. He was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2011.
A full obituary will follow at a later date.