William Woolverton died on June 13, 2013 after a brief illness. He is considered one of the leaders in the neuropharmacology of drug abuse involving animal models. Woolverton, an Alabama native, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in biology. He earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Chicago under the mentorship of Charles (Bob) Schuster in 1977 and conducted his post-doctoral training at Virginia Commonwealth University under the guidance of Robert L. Balster before returning to the University of Chicago in 1980. In 1993, Woolverton moved to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) as Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (DPHB) and Director of the Division of Neurobiology and Behavior Research. In 2010, Woolverton was awarded the Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professorship, the highest honor that is bestowed upon researchers at UMMC. Woolverton was an active member of several professional societies including the Behavioral Pharmacology Society since 1979 and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) since 1982. His research covered a broad range of pharmacology from stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine, to PCP, benzodiazepines, local anesthetics and histamine. His behavioral paradigms focused on models of drug self-administration primarily using drug choice and progressive-ratio schedules of reinforcement. There have been several excellent obituaries written to honor Woolverton’s research excellence (Balster et al., 2013; Bergman and Coffey, 2013; Johanson and Rowlett, 2013). He is survived by his wife Candy, his son Christopher, and his daughter Lucy.
References
- Balster RL, Nader MA, Freeman KB. Obituary: William L. Woolverton. Psychopharmacology, 2013.
- Bergman J, Coffey SF. Obituary: William L. Woolverton. Behavioural Pharmacology, 2013.
- Johanson CE, Rowlett J. Obituary: William L. Woolverton. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2013.