Professor Aubrey Gorbman, 88, never lost thirst for knowledge

Even after more than 60 years as a scientist, Aubrey Gorbman's inquisitive mind never stopped observing or questioning the world around him.

Professor Gorbman, 88, was a pioneer researcher in zoology and endocrinology and was known for his longstanding support and encouragement of women in science. He died Sunday (Sept. 21) from Parkinson's disease at his Seattle home in the Laurelhurst neighborhood.

"His overall goal was the wonder of nature and the way in which evolution made the animal kingdom such an amazingly complex and successful phenomenon as it is," said Claudia Gorbman, his daughter. "He was constantly in amazement of whatever force it was that made nature as beautiful and diverse as it is."

Professor Gorbman was a longtime zoology professor at the University of Washington, where he retired in 1985. In 1998, President Clinton honored him with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

He was an unassuming man with a wry sense of humor who favored bow ties. He also had a penchant for 1940s pop tunes and enjoyed collecting and repairing antique and unusual clocks.

Besides daughter Claudia he is survived by daughters, Beryl and Leila; son Eric, all of Seattle; and sister Rose, of Detroit. Professor Gorbman also had four grandchildren. His wife, Genevieve, died in 1998.

"He always asked his grandchildren, 'What are you learning? How is your report card,' " Leila Gorbman said. "He was most comfortable being a teacher. When we were kids, we would spend every summer at some research facility on the water somewhere, and we always got to learn about marine biology. ... We always did a tremendous amount of tide-pool exploring."

Professor Gorbman was born in 1914 in Detroit to Russian immigrants, David Gorbman and Esther Kornblit, who worked tirelessly to build a laundry business there. He graduated from Wayne State University in 1935.

A year later, he met Genevieve Tapperman, who was an undergraduate student at the time, and offered to help her with her biology-class frog experiments. They married in 1938 and moved to Berkeley, Calif., where Professor Gorbman earned his doctorate degree in zoology in 1940.

He did fellowships at Yale University and joined the zoology faculties at Barnard College and Columbia University in New York. In 1963 he and his family moved to Seattle, where he became chairman of the zoology department at the University of Washington and remained as a professor until 1985.

"He touched so many people; he was a world-class researcher," said Stacia Sower, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of New Hampshire. Sower and Professor Gorbman co-authored more than 20 articles on endocrinology in the past 23 years.

Professor Gorbman worked nearly until his death. He is scheduled to have two articles published posthumously, one that he co-authored with Sower.

He was a pioneer in comparative endocrinology, the study of how similar hormones act in different animals and species and the influence of the environment on animal hormones.

Tom Daniel, chairman of the UW biology department, said he used to see Professor Gorbman conducting lab experiments long after he'd retired.

"You would see him in the building, taking slides of tissue samples and working in the lab," Daniel said. "He was always poking around and doing great things."

Professor Gorbman's sense of humor was sometimes lost on others, Sower said.

"When he said a joke, he rarely cracked a smile," she said. "He had a wealth of information and thought deeply about things.

"Some people were afraid of him; he asked really tough questions. He wasn't doing it to try and be intimidating, he just asked tough questions."

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to the Aubrey Gorbman Lecture Fund at the UW. For information, call Paul Rudnick at 206-616-1701.

Rachel Tuinstra 206 464-2580 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com