News Release


UM Professor Emeritus Walter Block dies at age 92.

January 15, 2004 press release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Walter D. Block, professor emeritus of human nutrition at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and associate professor emeritus of biochemistry at the Department of Dermatology, UM Medical School, died January 5, 2004, in Ann Arbor. He was 92.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1911, Block received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Dayton and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in 1938. From 1939 to 1944, he served as an instructor in the Department of Biological Chemistry of the Medical School and as a research associate in the Rackham Arthritis Research Unit. He went on to become an assistant professor of biological chemistry in the Department of Dermatology of the Medical School, and in 1967 joined the faculty of the School of Public Health, where he taught until his retirement in 1982. From 1970 to 1976, Block was chair of the Nutritional Science Program in Rackham Graduate School.

Throughout his career, he served as a consultant and advisor to clinical and research laboratories in Michigan and Indiana. During the late 1940s, he was a commercial biochemical consultant for the Viobin Corporation in Springfield, Ohio. His many research interests included protein-calorie malnutrition, the role of standardized exercise on tissue-lipid distribution, triglyceride and carbohydrate metabolism in normal adults and in patients with coronary heart disease, and biochemical studies related to the renowned Tecumseh (Michigan) Community Health Survey. He was the author or co-author of more than 250 scientific publications and several books, including the first textbook on the treatment of arthritis with gold salts and a genetic study on amyloidosis in the Amish population of Bluffton, Indiana.

“His contribution to the field of nutrition was significant,” said Anita Sandretto, assistant dean for academic affairs at SPH, who studied with Block in the 1960s. “Through his work on the Tecumseh Survey, Walter began looking at total cholesterol levels. He was a forerunner in this area of research and did pathbreaking work in blood-lipid analysis. He implemented an extremely good quality-control system in his labs, and as a result, obtained consistently reliable results. As a teacher and a scientist, Walter was very thorough, and he set high standards for students.”

Block is survived by his wife, Thelma; his daughter, Mimi Block; and his son, Robert M. Black, as well as two grandchildren. Gifts in memory of Walter D. Block may be made to the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Contact: Terri Mellow, Director, Office of Communications
Phone: (734) 764-8094
E-mail: twm@umich.edu

© 2004 The Regents of the University of Michigan
Updated January 15, 2004