A Tribute to Dr. Michael Wells

by John H. Law, PhD
Regents Professor Emeritus

Michael A. Wells was born in Los Angeles in 1938 and received a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from the University of Southern California in 1961. He studied with John C. Dittmer at the University of Kentucky, receiving a doctorate in 1965. With Dittmer, he worked out micro analytical methods for the quantitative determination of brain lipids. His post-doctoral studies were with Donald J. Hanahan at the University of Washington in Seattle. There was an idea at the time that enzymes that acted upon water-insoluble lipid substrates might be impossible to purify. Therefore, it was exciting to see that Wells and Hanahan had purified and crystallized two phospholipase enzymes from rattlesnake venom. In 1967, Hanahan moved to the medical school at the University of Arizona as head of the Department of Biochemistry and appointed Mike as assistant professor and a founding member of this new department.

Mike continued detailed studies on the venom phospholipases, revealing many features of the mechanism of action and the unusual property of activation by organic solvents. He also initiated work on lipoproteins of neonatal rats. In 1984, Mike joined forces with us to study lipoprotein metabolism in insects. This was an experience that changed the course of his career, which henceforth focused almost exclusively on insects. One of the results of the collaboration with Hazel Holden and Ivan Rayment
was the first structural determination of an apolipoprotein, which had significance far beyond insect biochemistry.

As a participant in an initiative by the MacArthur Foundation in 1990, Mike began a long and productive study of mosquito metabolism. Novel insights into regulation of digestive enzymes following a blood meal, and the utilization of resources of the blood meal, were provided by this work. A measure of the respect for his work is the fact that in times when support for research is severely waning, Mike received two large grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Outstanding as he was as a research scientist, I think that Mike s real love was education of young people from elementary school to the postdoctoral level. In a liaison with public school teachers, he developed and implemented the Manduca Project, an outreach program that brought science activities to thousands of elementary school children. In 1988 he founded the Undergraduate Biology Research Program and secured funding for undergraduate research. He was instrumental in establishing a new M.S. degree program for secondary school science teachers to help them better prepare 7th-12th grade students in biological science (see related article on pp 4-5). He received numerous awards for his formal teaching, including the Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of Science in 1996, and
the Henry and Phyllis Koffler Prize in 2003. In recognition of his excellence as both a research scientist and a teacher, he was appointed Regents Professor in 2002.

Mike was a staunch supporter of his department (which he headed from 1986 to 1995), the Center for Insect Science (of which he was a founding member) and of the University of Arizona. In each case he worked selflessly for the betterment of the institution. He was a great collaborator and colleague who helped us all to work better.

Throughout his long illness, Mike remained optimistic and courageous. We all hoped that he would be with us at the scientific meeting that he had helped to organize, but unfortunately, that was not to be. Mike lost his long fight on May 23, 2006. He will be sorely missed.