VUMC mourns loss of noted educator Loren Hoffman, Ph.D.
Loren Hoffman, Ph.D.
Loren H. Hoffman, Ph.D., professor of Cell Biology and a member of the Vanderbilt faculty for three decades, died Tuesday, April 27, following a lengthy illness.
A memorial service will be held today at 4 p.m. at Vanderbilt's Benton Chapel.
Though a noted researcher, Dr. Hoffman was perhaps best known for his rapport with a generation of Vanderbilt students.
"Loren Hoffman was not a good teacher, he was a great teacher," said Dr. John E. Chapman, dean of the School of Medicine. "He was a consummate educator and scientist, and he was held in especially high regard by his students.
"He was devoted to them and they were devoted to him. He had remarkable success in achieving Vanderbilt's objectives of teaching and learning."
Dr. Harold L. Moses, Benjamin F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and former chair of the Department of Cell Biology, also remembers Dr. Hoffman as a gifted educator.
"Loren Hoffman has been an important member of the Cell Biology faculty for many years. His major responsibility was overseeing the Medical School courses in Cell Biology, and he was a favorite among the students.
"He did a wonderful job in terms of maintaining the high level of Medical School teaching. He was a wonderful faculty member, supporting all the initiatives in Cell Biology and ensuring that things ran smoothly. He will be missed," Moses said.
Dr. Hoffman, 57, is the author of numerous scientific papers. He joined the VUMC faculty in 1969 as an instructor in the Department of Anatomy, which later became the Department of Cell Biology. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Jamestown College in North Dakota in 1963 and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1968.
Dr. Hoffman is survived by his wife, Barbara; son Paul; daughter Allison; brother Dennis; and sister Linda Rice.