ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan mathematical biologist John A. Jacquez, whose research on the transmission of the AIDS virus gained international acclaim, died Oct. 16. He was 77.

A professor emeritus of physiology and biostatistics, Jacquez taught at the U-M’s Medical School and School of Public Health from 1962 until his retirement in 1990. His research brought to the world’s attention the importance of the primary infection period for the spread of HIV and its implications for the development of an HIV vaccine. His work with colleagues James Koopman, Carl Simon and Ira Longini demonstrating the importance of the first two months of infection won the 1995 Howard Temin Prize.

Jacquez was a major contributor to the theory and methods of mathematical biology and was the driving force behind the compartmental systems approach to modeling the dynamics of biological systems. He recently published the third edition of his classic text, “Compartmental Analysis in Biology and Medicine,” as well as a new hands-on guide to compartmental modeling.

In the mid-1980s, Jacquez was president of the Society for Mathematical Biology. His influence was especially strong as editor-in-chief for nearly 20 years of Mathematical Biosciences, now recognized as one of the premier journals in mathematical biology.

“John was a dedicated theorist in mathematical biology and was a systems guru for the medical profession and for
the medical sciences,” says Koopman, U-M professor of epidemiology. “He was a specialist physician whose specialty did not involve direct patient care but whose endeavors were continually improving the practice of medicine.

“He was a teacher who initiated many students to the practical systems view of the world that is found in compartmental systems analysis. Even as a close colleague in research, he always took care to teach the methods and wisdom he had developed. He had many sides to him that he kept in harmony.”

“John was truly a renaissance man in his scientific interests,” says Simon, U-M professor of mathematics, economics and public policy. “His personal life was characterized by his strong family ties, his delight in helping the careers of young mathematical biologists, and his production of fine wine from the grapes he grew in his backyard.”

Born immigrated to New York with his family in 1929. He received his M.D. from Cornell University in 1947, and after a distinguished tenure in cancer research at the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York, he was asked to establish the U-M Department of Biomedical Data Processing in 1962.

He is survived by Marianne, his wife of 51 years, their four sons and their wives, and seven grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley and the Hope Clinic in Ypsilanti.