Robert L. Moss
Born August 24, 1940 Brooklyn, New York
Died May 25, 1999 of complications while awaiting a heart transplant.
Bob received his B.S. from Villanova University in 1962 and was awarded his Ph.D. in 1969 from Claremont Graduate School and University Center in California. After an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in Neurophysiology and Neuroendocrinology at the University of Bristol Medical School in England, Bob joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 1971 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1976 and full professor in 1980. At UT Southwestern, His early work focused on the role of GnRH as a facilitator of sexual behavior in the female rat. Using behavioral and electrophysiological techniques, he determined that this decapeptide acted in the hypothalamus to enhance sexual receptivity. He was also the first to show that the female sex steroid, estrogen, could act directly on central nervous system neurons to alter their membrane properties. Most recently, his efforts were directed towards establishing the role of pheromonal signals in activating GnRH neurons. In addition to his outstanding research, Bob was a dedicated teacher. Medical students loved him and consistently awarded him Teacher of the Year honors. He was mentor to many graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who remained close to him over the years. Bob served as Chairman of the Physiology Graduate Program during the 1980s at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and was the Chairman of the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the time of his death. Bob's family has established a memorial fund in his name for the advancement of organ transplantation. Donations may be made to:
Robert Louis Moss Memorial Fund
American National Bank
1201 Cross Timbers
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
972-221-7966
