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Memorial service planned for Milgrom
A memorial service for Felix Milgrom, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus at UB, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Lippschutz Room, 125 Biomedical Education Building, South Campus.
Milgrom, known for his pioneering research in basic and medical immunology in the fields of human organ transplantation and autoimmunity, died Sept. 2 in Buffalo General Hospital after a short illness. He was 87.
Milgrom joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology at the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 1958. He served as chair of the department—now known as the Department of Microbiology and Immunology—from 1967-85, and with his predecessor as chair, noted immunologist Ernest Witebsky, and other departmental colleagues founded the Center for Immunology. The center, now known as the Witebsky Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology, is internationally known for its research in infectious diseases and host defenses against them.
Although Milgrom retired in 1995, colleagues report that he came to campus almost daily to work on his research and writing. He was last in the office on Aug. 30.
John B. Sheffer, medical school faculty member
John B. Sheffer, a pathologist and beloved teacher in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died Oct. 17 in Canterbury Woods, Amherst, after a lengthy illness. He was 85.
Born in Youngsville, Pa., Sheffer moved to Amherst after graduating from Houghton College in 1943. He graduated from the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in 1947.
Sheffer taught pathology at the UB medical school for 47 years, serving as acting chair of the Department of Pathology from 1972-74. An annual award is given in his name.
A favorite among medical students, he was honored with several yearbook dedications.
Sheffer was chief of laboratory services at Veterans Affairs Medical Center, then for almost 20 years was chief of pathology at Deaconess Hospital.
He joined the staff at Sisters Hospital in 1978, where he worked until illness forced him to curtail his activities in 2001.
Survivors include his son John B. Sheffer II, former director of the UB Regional Institute and a New York State legislator.
John McMahon, clinical faculty member
John J. McMahon, an internist and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died unexpectedly Oct. 7 in his Amherst home. He was 76.
McMahon practiced medicine for more than 40 years and also spent many of those years teaching third- and fourth-year medical students and residents in the medical school.
A native of Queens, he graduated from Niagara University in 1953 and from the UB medical school in 1959.