By Cristobal L. Miranda, David E. Williams, and A. Jay Gandolfi
Donald R. Buhler, the first Chairman of the Toxicology Program and a professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology and Environmental Health Sciences Center at Oregon State University (OSU), passed away in Portland, Oregon, on September 10, 2014, at the age of 88. Don obtained his BS (1950), MS (1953), and PhD (1956) from Oregon State College. After a postdoctoral position at the Oregon Medical School, he held positions at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Upjohn Company, and Battelle-Northwest.
In 1967, Don joined OSU in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Environmental Health Sciences Center. In 1974, he became a full professor and then in 1983, he was appointed as the first Chairman of the graduate Toxicology Program and held this post until 1994.
At OSU, Don was a passionate teacher and researcher who did pioneering work in diverse areas of health-related research such as hop flavonoids, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, pesticides, heavy metals, hexachlorophene, hepatic porphyria, and xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes using various animal models including rats, rabbits, Japanese quail, rainbow trout, zebrafish, leaping mullet, sea lion, and other aquatic organisms. Besides research, Don contributed heavily to local, national, and international toxicology- and health-related activities. He served on the Editorial Boards of Aquatic Toxicology, Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, and Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.
Don served as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toxicology Study Section and various NIH Special Study Sections, National Academy of Science/National Research Council Safe Drinking Water Committee, US Environmental Protection Agency FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, and NMFS Marine Pollution Assessment Grant Review Panel. He was a past president of the Pacific Northwest Regional Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (SOT). He was a member of several professional societies such as SOT, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, International Union of Toxicology, International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics, American Society of Biological Chemists, American Chemical Society (ACS), and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He actively participated in these societies by serving on various committees and functions.
He was a mentor to many successful graduate students and postdoctoral research associates. He instilled in them the merits of academia and the professionalism to succeed in all scientific endeavors. Many of his past advisees became leaders of academic toxicology programs, elected officers in professional societies such as SOT, editors of scientific journals, and directors of research programs in the pharmaceutical industries.
Don was known for his extensive collaboration with professors/scientists from all over the world. His diverse research interests resulted in his interactions all across the OSU campus. He also reached out to colleagues throughout the US and around the world to produce the best research publications.
He was a highly productive researcher, publishing more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In addition, Don and Donald J. Reed, an OSU biochemistry professor and past President of SOT, authored a book, entitled Ethel Browning’s Toxicity and Metabolism of Industrial Solvents published by Elsevier in 1990. Don’s research on the purification, characterization, and cloning of various forms of cytochrome P450 and flavin-containing monooxygenase in rainbow trout and zebrafish undoubtedly enhanced the utility of these fish species as non-mammalian models of human disease. He also made important contributions to the understanding of the metabolism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, hexachlorophene, and other halogenated aromatic compounds in various animal species.
Don’s excellence in teaching and research earned him the Ferguson Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Science Award at OSU. He also received the Newsmaker Award from the ACS in 2001 at its annual meeting for publishing a research paper on the antioxidant activity of prenylflavonoids that are found in hops and beer.
One particular attribute that many students and colleagues remember fondly was Don’s hospitality and generosity to international students and visiting faculty new to Corvallis. Often, they would stay in his home until they found a residence and he would even loan them a car if needed. If they planned on staying long-term, his wife and colleague, Jun-Lan Wang, would donate her time as a realtor helping them to get housing. You were in good hands with the Buhlers if you arrived in the US with little or nothing in the way of financial support.
Although Don retired in 2003 with Professor Emeritus status at OSU, he continued to actively pursue his passion for research and remained on the Editorial Board of several Toxicology journals and on NIH Study Sections.
Don is survived by his loving wife, Jun-Lan Wang, who worked with him in the lab for 30 years. Don also is survived by four children, three grandchildren, and one great grandson.