Jordan U. Gutterman, who replaced Fordyce as Lasker Foundation executive vice president and director of the Lasker awards program on Dec. 31, 1990, says that the time he spent discussing the program with Fordyce before her death provided the necessary background he needed to ensure its successful continuation. Says Gutterman, who administered the awards for the first time when they were given in 1991, after a one-year moratorium in 1990: "Although she traveled a lot that year, she was available quite a bit for me."
Gutterman says that, since "we were already going through a transition because she had stepped down," there should be minimal disruption due to the loss of Fordyce. "It was good we had experience without her directly involved," says Gutterman, who is chairman of the department of clinical immunology and biological therapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Fordyce, together with ...
