Joseph F. Hoffman *52

Joe died May 19, 2022, in North Haven, Conn.

He was born March 7, 1925, in Oklahoma City, Okla., and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1948 after earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. At Princeton, Joe attained a Ph.D. in physiology in 1952. He taught in Princeton’s biology department until 1957, then moved to the National Institutes of Health for eight years. In 1965, Joe joined the department of cellular and molecular physiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he remained until retiring in 2004.

Joe’s scientific interests were the physiology and structure of red blood cells and the transport of sodium and potassium across the red blood cell membrane. He won Yale’s Science and Engineering Association Award for the Advancement of Basic and Applied Science. Scientific symposia were held in his honor in 2004 and 2015. 

He was the editor of the journal Annual Review of Physiology, and continued his work on the physiology of red blood cells after his retirement. At ages 83, 91, and 94, Joe published papers for which he was the sole author.

Predeceased by his wife, Elena Citkowitz. Joe is survived by a nephew and several nieces.

Graduate Alumni memorials are prepared by the APGA.