Abraham Eisenstark

Abraham Eisenstark, Emeritus Research Director, Cancer Research Center, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Missouri Department of Biological Studies, Columbia, Missouri, died yesterday, a few days short of his 99th birthday. Before taking on the emeritus title to focus on research, he was Director of the CRC.

Known as Dr. Abe to his colleagues, Eisenstark was also the Byler Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) and Thomas Jefferson Professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, where he served as Director of Biological Sciences from 1971-1990.

Eisenstark was born in Warsaw Poland in 1919, and immigrated to the US with his mother through Ellis Island in 1921. They joined relatives in Chicago and later Kansas City.

Following an inspiring science education at Kansas City public schools, including Junior College, he entered the University of Illinois Champagne/Urbana for his AB and MA degrees, and to begin a PhD in microbiology. His formal education in medical science was interrupted by war service as Tech Sgt, 8th Medical Laboratory in World War II. Malaria was the devastating scourge of soldiers returning from New Guinea to Townsville, Australia, and he was involved in diagnostic procedures. For service in the Pacific, he received a medal for the Battle of Papua, New Guinea.

After the war, Eisenstark eagerly returned to Illinois to finish his PhD. He went on to teaching positions at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater (1949 – 1952) and Kansas State University in Manhattan (1952-1971) before accepting the position of Director of Microbial Genetics at the University of Missouri in 1971. During his tenure at Kansas State, he also spent nine months in Copenhagen, Denmark (1959) on a Guggenheim Fellowship; fifteen months in Leicester, UK and The Hague, Netherlands on an NSF grant (1966-67); and fifteen months in Washington, DC at National Science Foundation as program director for molecular biology (1968–69).

Eisenstark continued to study salmonella throughout his career and has over 176 publications, including most recently as co-editor with Heidi Schatten of the three-volume set, Salmonella: Methods and Protocols. Eisenstark liked to quote Linus Pauling who said his great joy was to see the results of an experiment and to know that he, and no one else in the world, knew what he observed. Eisenstark took great pride in the hundreds of students he mentored over the years and their accomplishments and was grateful to the distinguished scientists who mentored him.

In addition to science, Eisenstark was passionate about art. An accomplished amateur painter inspired by artists such as Klee, Miro, and Chagall, he made many contributions of his paintings to the Cancer Research Center’s annual auctions. One of those paintings was purchased by Bank of Missouri and hangs in their offices.

He was also passionate about travel. In addition to his service in Australia, he travelled to Japan, Mexico, and Europe, including at least two dozen trips to Paris, which he considered a second home.

During his lifetime, Eisenstark was a member and contributor to a variety of social justice and liberal causes, including the ACLU, Democratic party, Jewish organizations, Unitarian fellowships, and Veterans for Peace.

Abe Eisenstark is survived by his wife, Joan Ragsdell Eisenstark; his children, Romalyn, David, and Douglas; his daughter-in-law, Mary Jo; his granddaughter, Roma; five stepchildren, Blake, Phyllis, Carla, Brian, and Bruce, as well as nine step-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Roma Gould Eisenstark, in 1984.

Memorial tribute will be held at 4 pm, September 5, at the Columbia Unitarian Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Cancer Research Center, Congregation Beth Shalom, and Unitarian Church.