George F. Sensabaugh

George and his younger brother David grew up in an academic environment. His late father, George Frank Sensabaugh, was a highly regarded Professor of English at Stanford University.

George graduated from Princeton University in 1963, having majored in Philosophy and additionally completing a premedical curriculum. He returned to the Bay Area as a graduate student in Criminalistics with a minor emphasis on biochemistry at UC Berkeley. In 1969, he received his doctorate degree in Criminology. Between 1969 and 1973, George was a research fellow in Chemistry at the University of California, San Diego for two years, and for one year a research fellow at the National Institute for Medical Research in the Genetics Division in London.

In 1973, George joined the UC Berkeley faculty as an Assistant Professor of Forensic Science in the School of Criminology, and in 1975, in the School of Public Health (SPH). The latter remained his academic home for the remainder of his life. His academic foci included the genetic characterization of human and microbial populations, human genetics, and health forensic science. In 1979, George was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 1986, he advanced to Professor of Forensic Science and Biomedical Sciences. He also held affiliations with Graduate Groups in Comparative Biochemistry, in Infectious Diseases and Immunity, in Microbiology, and in Forensic Science (UC Davis).

Throughout his career George was a prolific contributor to scientific literature. His bibliography includes over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, several chapter contributions to textbooks, and nearly 50 publications in non-peer reviewed press.

George retired in 2012, but that was pretty much in name only. He continued to teach classes and seminars, mentor students, and participate in graduate student theses and capstone projects. During these “retirement” years, George’s expertise in forensic science remained in demand. One fascinating project was his key role in helping the Chilean government understand the cause of Pablo Neruda’s death.

Throughout his career George was considered one of the top people in his field.  Many other universities sought his expertise. He accepted a variety of appointments, including the Graduate Program in Forensic Science at the University of California, Davis; Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde’s Forensic Science Unit in Glasgow, Scotland; Visiting Professor at the University of Rome’s Department of Surgery; Visiting Professor at the University of the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology; and the Visiting Professor at Tokyo’s Nihon University in the Department of Legal Medicine.

In addition to his academic work, George devoted considerable time and energy to administration at UC Berkeley. He was Chairman of the Department of Biomedical and Environmental Health Sciences of the SPH, member and subsequently chair of the University Committee on Research Policy, and Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the SPH.

George’s academic prestige was recognized with many honors and awards. These included the Distinguished Service Award from the California Association of Criminalists, the Paul L. Kirk Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Peter Sherry Memorial Lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Fulbright Research Scholar (at the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory, London), the Norman Rosenblatt Memorial Lecturer at Northeastern University, and the President of the 18th Congress from the International Society for Forensic Haemogenetics. George was named one of the top ten “Professors Changing Forensic Biology” by the association of forensic Colleges and Universities. In 2012 he received the prestigious Berkeley Citation award.

George belonged to multiple professional associations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi, the American Society for Human Genetics, the American Society for Microbiology, the California Association of Criminalists, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors, and the International Society for Forensic Genetics. He also offered professional service to a dozen professional organizations.

George’s expertise was frequently sought after by the biotechnology industry. At Cetus he was an early pioneer of the use of polymerase chain reaction technology in forensics. Later in his career, he worked on the forensic utility of microbial community DNA profiling as a tool for the analysis of soil evidence. Throughout his career, he emphasized that an academic presence was an important component for establishing the legitimacy of forensic science and methods.

In 2013, George was feted by his peers at the annual meeting of the California Association of Criminologists. At that celebration, one of his colleagues, Henry Ehrlich, wrote in part the following jingle:

You’ve taught us well, George Sensabaugh
You understood the science and you knew the law
You’ve launched a hundred outstanding careers And earned the respect of all of your peers

George was adored and admired by his peers at UC Berkeley. The following are comments from three of his colleagues in the SPH’s Infectious Diseases & Vaccinology Division, and one from the School’s Dean, just before George retired:

• Professor Fenyong Lu first became acquainted with George when he arrived as an assistant professor in 1995. At that time, George was, according to Professor Lu, “already a towering figure in the field of forensic science, especially in the application of nucleic acid-based methods such as PCR in solving crime.” He went on to say that George’s “wisdom and efforts in research have made significant contribution to both the fields of nucleic acid-based forensic science and genotyping-based public health microbiology.” When asked what three words Professor Lu would use to describe George, he said, “brilliant, magnanimous, and benevolent.” He went on to say, “he was always ready to help students and faculty members with gentle warmth and a kind smile. His mentorship and teaching contributions had profound impact on many people’s careers and touched many lives. The example he set as an educator and a mentor inspired me to become a better mentor. The most memorable thing about George is his humanity, as he was always willing to help others in any way possible. We were all deeply moved by his benevolence and generosity.”
• Professor Peter Dailey noted that “George was a pioneer in forensic science... He challenged criminalists to be ‘scientifically rigorous, legally relevant, and understandable to the decision makers throughout the criminal justice process.’ And he urged them to incorporate the ‘traditional scientific processes of peer review, hypothesis testing, and replication in forensic science.’” Professor Dailey also stated that George provided his expertise and testimony multiple times to the “Innocence Project” to help reverse wrongful criminal convictions.
• Professor Eva Harris, in reflecting about George, stated that “for me George was ever-present in our division with his great depth and breadth of knowledge and experience (and anecdotes of his long history in the School of Public Health!) and his wry sense of humor, always cheerful and willing to be of help.”
• Dean Emeritus of the School of Public Health, Steve Shortell, stated that George “was one of my favorite people in our School of Public Health. Upon reflection, I think it was because he did not seem to take himself too seriously in his interactions with others on what were important and serious issues often facing our students, staff, and faculty in the School of Public Health. He had a witty, low key, insightful sense of humor which, I think, made him very effective in working with others.” Shortell went on to say, “I saw firsthand how deeply he cared for our students, his listening skills, and his ability to come up with creative options for addressing the issues that they brought.”  Shortell also recall that George would “regale us with stories of some of his work and his interest in criminology. I remember that we shared the reflection that being an academic researcher was better than being a detective in that we have the freedom to both commit our own crimes (by nature of the problems we choose to study) and then solve them!

While the focus of this In Memoriam has been on George’s professional life, his role as a husband and father were central to his being.  His son Jeff, also a highly regarded teacher and mentor, relates that his father “was a generous person with his time and attention (unless there was a sports game going on). Around high school, he started treating me like an adult in the best way. He asked me questions and listened to me and gave advice, but never pushed conclusions on me. When I struggled with grad school, he was a sympathetic ear and let me make my own decision (leaving) without any judgment. I'm sure he had feelings about it, but he didn't share them with me because that wasn't what I needed at that point. When I met my wife-to-be he treated her like an interesting adult with interesting stories, not like a job interview.” As to having a scientist for a father, Jeff relates his father “was a scientist to the very end. In his last week, he was having trouble with sitting up and he thought there might be an issue with his blood pressure. We had tried to get him into a wheelchair for a tour around the hospice and it wasn't working. As I was holding him so that the nurses could get him back into bed, he kept asking for a blood pressure reading so that he could test his hypothesis. He was disappointed not to get that data point— I was trying to keep him from sliding out of the chair.” 

George’s daughter, Laura, relates that her father “was a steady guy, always calm and wise. A North Star to more folks than he might have realized. He took people as they are, and always had kind word.” She recalls that he wasn’t afraid of death, “he was just avoiding it. He had season opera tickets!” “Because Dad often worked with heavy topics like rape, death, and disease, he made sure to sprinkle humor and joy where possible.  Laughter was important.” In reflecting on his death, she related that “Dad wasn’t ready to go – he had more he wanted to do. More research, more papers with students, more travel, more concerts and plays, more walks in the woods, more watching his three grandsons grow. I am trying to honor him by living my life fully, like he did.”

John Swartzberg