Dr. David Joseph Remondini
Scholarship Endowment

In 1954, Dr. David J. Remondini graduated with a BA from the University of California Santa Barbara. He started his career as a science teacher in the public-school system. In 1963 fate intervened, leading to a doctorate in genetics and a 36-year career at National Institute of Health.  David was selected by the National Science Foundation for its one-year Academic Year Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He remained an additional year to complete an M.S. in 1964, working with George F. Hanks, Ph.D., using Drosophila to study mitotic drive.  He was selected as a NIH trainee at Utah State University in Logan Utah and received his Ph.D. in 1968 for work with Dr. Eldon J. Gardner, Ph. D., using another genetic condition in drosophila known as tumorous head.

From there, Dr. Remondini became a faculty member at Gonzaga University, he taught Genetics, History of Biology, Evolution, and Histology. In 1971 he became the first staff geneticist, at Sacred Heart Medical Center, in Spokane WA where he helped discover the osbold-remondini syndrome. In 1974 he moved to Michigan Technological University, in Houghton MI. As a member of the Department of Biology he taught the same classes as before with the addition of Population Genetics. He maintained his laboratory and was a consultant to the local physicians on genetic matters. At both universities he received grants from the National Science Foundation for equipment and supplies to support his teaching laboratories. In February of 1977, he became the genetics study section’s second-ever Executive Secretary, now called Science Review Officer, at National Institute of Health in Rockville MD. David had an intense interest in a fair peer review process. He was ahead of his time in analyzing data from his study sections to ensure every application was dealt with fairly.

He worked at NIH for 36 years and retired at the age of 81. David also had a parallel military career as a reservist in the CA National Guard, US Army and US Coast Guard from which he retired as a Commander in 1991.

In addition to being a loyal and dedicated husband and father, David had many interests; he was a private pilot, and enjoyed working around the yard, wood working, reading, barbequing and volunteered countless hours at St. Patrick’s Catholic church in Silver Spring, MD.  He also loved family gatherings and spending time with his extended family which included his wife of 67 years, his six children, 16 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. David was the informal family historian who enjoyed sharing much of what he saw and learned at family gatherings. He could often be found surrounded by all the children as he recounted stories and anecdotes from his past.

It is the hope of the family that this endowment will benefit students that have the same love of science and passion for learning as Dr. Remondini did.

The family would like you to join us in establishing the Dr. David Joseph Remondini Scholarship Endowment to honor Dr. Remondini’s memory. The income of the endowment will be used to support scholarships for students studying genetics in the College of Science each year.