Community post

The phage research community sadly lost one of its greats this month; Dr. Richard Calendar passed away on October 10 following a long battle with prostate cancer.

Rich, as he was known to many, was a renowned UC Berkeley Professor of Molecular Biology (and later of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology) from 1968-2020. Based on the many accounts from his colleagues, he was a wonderfully optimistic colleague and friend, whose sense of humor will be deeply missed. He was an international leader in the study of phages targeting E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus anthracis. He was devoted to teaching, and one of his trainees even won the Nobel prize. Rich is known to many as having written the book on phage (literally!), and he worked at the bench until a month before he died. He will clearly be deeply missed, both by those who knew him and those who missed the chance to meet him.

Read UC Berkeley's article in memory of Rich here, and read this Life in Science paper written by Rich in 2013, where he candidly sums up how he got into phage science and what he found there. Rest peacefully, Rich, and let us all continue your legacy of collaboration, mentorship, good humor, and curiosity.