PETER C. NOWELL ’48

PETER C. NOWELL, M.D., an acclaimed cancer researcher who was the Gaylord P. and Mary Louise Harnwell Emeritus Professor, and former chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, died Dec. 26, 2016. He was 88. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he was elected both to Phi Beta Kappa and to Sigma Xi. After receiving his degree with high honors and with distinction in biochemistry, he received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He trained in pathology and then spent two years at the U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco, after which he returned to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School as an instructor, and later as a professor in the Department of Pathology. He served as chairman of the department from 1967-1973 and was the first director of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, now known as the Abramson Cancer Center. In 1960, he and a colleague discovered the first genetic defect proven to cause cancer. They observed that the number 22 chromosome in the tumor cells of individuals suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) was abnormally small. The observation was the first consistent chromosome abnormality found in any kind of malignancy. The finding—known as the “Philadelphia chromosome”—took cancer research in a new direction, transforming CML from a fatal disease to a chronic disease that could be kept under control for many years. Among the awards and citations he received for his work, are the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science. Last year an endowed chair was established in his name at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Nowell was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Wesleyan in 1968. He served on Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees for 15 years and was elected trustee emeritus of the university. He was predeceased by his wife, Helen Walker Worst Nowell and one daughter. He is survived by four children, seven grandchildren, a brother, and a nephew, Andrew M. Nowell ’82.