It is with sadness that the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology share news of the passing of Professor emeritus Sandy Helman. Dr. Helman, an ion-transport physiologist and biophysicist, died on July 14, 2024, at home with his family.

Remembered fondly as a kind and caring colleague, Dr. Helman was on the faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for 41 years, conducting research, teaching, and mentoring doctoral students as a Professor of Physiology, Biophysics, and Bioengineering.

Born and raised in the North End of Winnipeg in Canada, he studied electrical engineering at the University of Manitoba. There he earned numerous awards and scholarships. He received his PhD in physiology at Marquette University in Wisconsin in 1964 and completed his postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health. After serving on the faculty at Tulane University, he joined the University of Illinois.

“Sandy was a wonderful colleague with a caring heart," said Milan Bagchi, Deborah Paul Professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Director of the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology. Bagchi met Dr. Helman when he joined the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology in 2001. At the time, Dr. Helman was a senior faculty member in the department, and their laboratories were next to each other.

“He was a kind and decent person who helped me find my footing in the new department. We taught together in MCB 401. He covered many aspects of membrane physiology, while I taught the signaling mechanisms from the plasma membrane to the nucleus. I learned a lot about teaching from him.”

Read the full obituary published by Cress Funeral Service.