Howard Hosick

PULLMAN, Wash. – Howard Hosick, professor emeritus of the College of Sciences at Washington State University, passed away March 31, 2012 at Glenhaven Adult Family Home. He was employed at WSU from 1973 until 2007.
 
Howard was born on November 1, 1943. He graduated from East High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming in1961. From there he went to the University of Colorado in Boulder, graduating with honors in 1965 with a focus on cell biology. He was accepted to graduate school at the University of California in Berkeley, had a research assistantship during all of his Ph.D. studies, and published the material from his dissertation. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1970, he moved his family to Stockholm, Sweden for an 18 month postdoc at the Karolinksa Institute. Howard and Cynthia Jacobson, a younger classmate from East High School in Cheyenne, were married in 1968.
 
Back in Berkeley, Howard pursued a second 18 month postdoc, and then began his career as a teacher and cancer researcher in 1973, when he was hired by Washington State University in Pullman. His 34 year tenure at WSU was full and varied. He directed a busy and productive cancer research lab with many grants, training undergraduates as well as graduate students and postdocs in the techniques of cytology and developmental biology, and developed a reputation as a fair and effective teacher, both at undergraduate and graduate levels.
 
He participated in and chaired many committees, advised students, and served as chair of the Department of Zoology from 1983-1987, and as chair of Genetics and Cell Biology from 1987-1992. He published regularly, and received a number of awards, including the Honors College Faculty of the Year Award in 2002, WSU, and the Tom Lutz Memorial Teaching Award, WSU, in 2003. He also sat on grant committees and attended conferences at home and abroad and especially enjoyed having foreign students as part of his lab group. In addition to his postdocs in Sweden and Berkeley, Howard and his family benefited from four sabbaticals abroad, in Reading, England; Nagoya, Japan; Cambridge, England; and Vancouver, B.C.
 
During his career Howard continued to pursue his interest in creative arts; became a life-long runner, included running two sub-three hour marathons; continued his passion for climbing, summiting several northwest peaks including Mt. Rainier; and enjoyed cross country skiing and backpacking with family and friends.
 
Howard developed early onset Alzheimer’s disease and retired from his position at WSU in 2007. He is survived by his wife Cynthia, children Steve of Bellingham, Anna of Mt. Vernon, and Rachel of Bremerton, and four grandchildren.
 
There will be a celebration of Howard’s life at Community Congregational United Church of Christ, 525 NE Campus Street in Pullman, on Saturday May 19, 2012 at 10:30 am. For those who are interested, gifts may be given in Howard’s memory to: The WSU Foundation Howard Hosick Student Research Fund, PO. Box 641927, Pullman, WA 99164-1927