Byron Caughey
I am extremely grateful to have known and worked with Richard for at least 20 years. Although we both did our graduate work at the UW-Madison, I only came to know Richard after leaving UW when I joining him in the pursuit of solutions to the problem of prion diseases. While Richard was at UW, he made truly seminal contributions to the prion disease field by showing that prion strains differed in their pathological conformations. This notion that deadly pathogens could not only be misfolded proteins, but also ones that differ in their deadly manifestations based on their protein shape rather than their genes, was controversial and difficult for many to envision. However, Richardâ??s results stood the test of time, and he was proven to be tough, careful and right. I have always considered Richard to be â??the Father of Prion Strainsâ?. Since that time Richard continued to do careful, elegant and insightful work in the field and to be a cherished friend, colleague and collaborator. I, and many here in Montana, will miss him.