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In Memoriam

Helen L. Henry Norman

Professor of Biochemistry

UC Riverside
1944-2018

Professor Emerita of Biochemistry Helen Henry passed away on May 19, 2018. Helen touched careers and lives throughout the UCR community and was a highly dedicated scientist and educator, known for her intellectual curiosity and innovation in research, education, and administration. To all her activities at UCR she brought a “rare elegance, style and grace.”

Helen Henry was born September 21, 1944, raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and went to college at Washington University in St. Louis, where she received both her B.S. in 1965 and her Ph.D. in 1970. She did postdoctoral work in animal reproduction at Ohio State University, and then joined the laboratory of Professor Anthony Norman at UCR in 1974.  In 1978, she made a transition to the ladder-rank faculty and progressed through the ranks to Professor of Biochemistry. She retired in 2008, but continued to be active in teaching and in administrative positions up to the last few months of her life.

Dr. Henry’s research work was work was on the biochemistry of vitamin D and its metabolites. Her laboratory made major contributions to the understanding of vitamin D metabolism, particularly regulation of the production of the active vitamin D hormone by the kidney. She pioneered the use of cell culture systems to study renal vitamin D metabolism. A related area of research focus was the regulation of gene expression in the kidney by vitamin D metabolites. More recently, her research was concerned with the regulation of steroid hormones at the point of synthesis, especially the regulation of production of steroid hormone hydroxylation by mitochondrial cytochrome P450-dependent mixed function oxidase enzymes.

In addition to over 80 peer-reviewed research articles, many with her spouse, Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry Anthony W. Norman, Dr. Henry published a number of review articles and books, including Encyclopedia of Hormones, and Hormones. She authored chapters for the books Vitamin D and Handbook of Physiology. She and Professor Norman wrote a textbook, Hormones, which was revised for three editions and was used at UCR and other institutions for up to 30 years.

Professor Henry was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Career Development Award in 1977, Public Health Service Career Development Award (1978-1983), received the Fuller Albright Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in 1984, and served this Society as a member of the Council and several Scientific Program Committees. She was a member of the NIH General Medicine B Study Section (1989-1993) and the National Science Foundation Panel on Integrative Biology (1994-1996).

Professor Henry also served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Endocrinology, American Journal of Physiology, and the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. She was a member of the Endocrine Society, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, and the American Institute of Nutritional Sciences. In 2003, she was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Henry had a great passion for teaching and greatly encouraged learning. She was a kind-hearted teacher, considering not only learning of the material, but student health and well-being. She and Dr. Norman developed several courses on nutrition, endocrinology, and introductory Biochemistry, which they taught together with other UCR faculty for over 30 years.

Dr. Henry held a variety of administrative roles at UCR, statewide, and nationwide. She was Associate Dean of Natural and Agricultural Sciences for five years, and Chair of several Academic Senate Committees. Notably, she was on the UCR Faculty Welfare Committee, which led to her appointment to the system-wide Faculty Welfare Committee, committee, which in turn led to a blue-ribbon task force on University pensions. Her leadership and dedication to that task certainly had an effect on the reorganization of the UCRP pension system. In the latter stages of her career, before and after retirement, she served as Chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee for a number of years, a daunting task that she accepted willingly and always diplomatically.

Throughout her career Dr. Henry was known for her support of faculty. She was a strong role model who welcomed new faculty to campus. Even after retiring, she continued to provide advice, consultation and support to junior faculty. Helen equally provided support and respect to staff.  As IACUC Chair, she ensured staff were recognized for hard work and significant accomplishments.

At the time of her death, Professor Henry was survived by her husband, Dr. Anthony W. Norman, UCR Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences, Emeritus; children, Thea Norman, Jacqueline Norman, and Derek Norman; brother, Mahlon Pitt, and nine grandchildren. The Norman family-UC legacy continues with Jacqueline Norman serving as the UC Riverside Campus Architect.

This memorial was prepared by Darleen DeMason, Professor of Botany & Plant Sciences at the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences.