It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of RNA researcher and belovedcolleague Tim Nilsen. Tim was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the RNA journal, a position he held for over 28 years, shaping its legacy as a leading journal in the field. More recently, he served as Editor of the journal’s Special Issues. In recognition of his extraordinary service and dedicationto the RNA Society and RNA scientific community, Tim was honored with the society’s Lifetime Service Award in 2004. He remained an engaged member of our Society until the end.
Born in Minnesota, Tim received his PhD from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. In 1982, he joined Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) as an Assistant Professor, where he had a long and successful career. In 1992, Tim founded the Center for RNA Molecular Biology at CWRU and served as its Director, a role he held until becoming Emeritus Professor in 2016. It should be noted that, although many institutions now have RNA Centers, the CWRU RNA Center was the first that we know of, and rapidly became a paradigm for the formation of other centers world-wide. Over the course of his career, Tim made enduring contributions to the fields of cis-and trans-splicing in nematodes and miRNA-mediated regulation. His legendary photographic memory, knowledge of the literature and scientific judgement made his papers and review articles examples of rigor and vision.
Tim also made enormous contributions of time and thought to our field through his service on numerous NIH and other relevant review panels. He volunteered for NIH study sections nearly every year for decades, and through this work a great deal of RNA research received funding. He was particularly supportive of younger scientists. His generosity and sound judgment were also evident in his organization of many meetings on RNA biology, including the Cold Spring Harbor Meeting on Eukaryotic mRNA Processing, which he co-organized biennially from 1997 to 2007, and the RNA Society Meetings in 2005 and 2010.
Tim was a unique and unforgettable character. Those who had the privilege of sharing time with him were invariably struck by his strong personality, fearless expression of opinions and razor-sharp intellect. His boldness was matched by a remarkable sense of humor and an unwavering dedication to the community.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to his life-long partner and RNA scientist Patricia Maroney, and to all bereaved by this immense loss. He will be deeply missed and remembered by the profound impact he had on our community.
