Mark and Jay Hellums pose with their father after he was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering
T
he legacy of J. David Hellums, one of the founding fathers and chairperson of the Rice University Department of Bioengineering and former dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering, is being honored with the J. David Hellums Fund for Faculty Excellence in Bioengineering. Hellums, the A. J. Hartsook Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, devoted 55 years to engineering and health sciences advancement and teaching at Rice and his contributions to research and education are legendary. He died in 2016 at the age of 86.
The Hellums’ family envisions the fund will support faculty and their research in the Department of Bioengineering. “This fund will be used for fellowships for research trainees, recruitment to help attract leading postdoctoral and graduate students, seed funding for new research ideas and/or funding to bring visiting bioengineering professors to Rice,” said Marilyn Hellums, J. David’s wife of 59 years. “Our goal is to honor and continue his legacy at Rice,” she said. “His legacy is his lasting impact on our family, many friends, former students, and colleagues at Rice and around the world, as well as his widely-respected contributions to science and engineering. It is very satisfying that there is something permanent at Rice that bears his name and will forever provide support for bioengineering at Rice.” Hellums joined Rice as an assistant professor of chemical engineering in 1960 and his impact on the world of medicine began within a few years into his Rice appointment. He was recruited to apply his knowledge of engineering fundamentals to seek solutions to the bleeding and clotting problems associated with cardiovascular prostheses and the first successful implantation of a left-ventricular bypass pump by Dr. Michael E. DeBakey.
By 1968, Hellums’ engineering efforts brought unprecedented dimensional insight to clinical applications in hemostasis and thrombosis. He established highly successful collaborative research projects in hematology between Rice engineers and a group of physician-scientists at Baylor College of Medicine. His longstanding collaborators in hematological research and medicine included chemical engineer, Larry McIntire, and physicians Clarence Alfrey, Jr., Edward Lynch, Clarence (Buck) Brown III and Joel Moake. Their work involved in-depth studies into the mechanical, chemical and molecular basis of thrombus-linked risk factors, including the disruption of blood flow, platelet dysfunction and activation, inflammation and blood hypercoagulability. These collaborative efforts transformed medicine and reduced the risk for heart attack and stroke. The work credited Hellums as the first engineer to receive a Merit Research Award from the National Institutes of Health, a 10-year grant that was extended twice for a total of 20 years of funding. Research and education under Hellums’ direction and his pioneering efforts to unite expertise between investigators at Rice and physicians at the Texas Medical Center were the genesis of what bioengineering is at Rice today. Hellums was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a founding fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society. Hellums was not only an esteemed academician and researcher, he was a beloved husband, father and friend to many. He mentored and formed life-long bonds with a host of students and scientists.
RICE ENGINEERING 47