Joseph Perlmutt, a retired professor emeritus at the School of Medicine of UNC, Chapel Hill, died Nov. 17, 2009, at the age of 90.
Perlmutt earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston in 1939 and a master’s degree from UNC in 1942. He served in the Navy into 1946. In 1950, he received a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton. That year he became an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, and the next year he went to the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1953, he was one of the many young doctors and researchers joining the medical school at Chapel Hill when it expanded its curriculum. His specialty was renal physiology, and he taught medical, nursing, dental, and pharmacy students as well as performing research for more than 35 years. Known for his meticulous methods, he even mixed his martinis in glass laboratory beakers and weighed his food on scales. Funny to the core, he was an inveterate walker whose grandchildren were his greatest joy.
Perlmutt is survived by Helen, his wife of 61 years; two sons; and five grandchildren. His oldest son died in 2001.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.