Harry A. Guess, MD, PhD, died January 1, 2006. Harry was born
December 24, 1940 in New York City, the son of Harry A. Guess
and Vista Brabham Guess. Following his mother’s death shortly
after his birth, he was adopted by his aunt Dorothy Brabham
Guess who had married his father. After his father’s death in
1946, Dr. Guess lived with his adoptive mother in Bamberg, SC.
He attended Georgia Tech on a Navy ROTC scholarship and
graduated in 1964 with both a B.S. and a M.S. He served in the
United States Navy for five and a half years on Admiral
Rickover’s staff at the Atomic Energy Commission, Division of
Naval Reactors. After completing his military service, Dr. Guess
attended Stanford University where he received a Ph.D. in
Mathematics and a M.S. in Operational Research in 1972. After a
year of teaching, Harry spent two years at Bell Laboratories
developing statistical models of communication networks and went
to NIH to work on mathematical population genetics and
biostatistics. There he and others developed what has become a
widely used method for calculating the statistical uncertainty
in cancer risk estimates based on animal data. This work kindled
an interest in taking a more biological approach to
understanding human health risks. He enrolled in medical school
at the University of Miami. (M.D. 1979) with epidemiologic
research as his career goal. His residency training in
pediatrics was the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He
later added board certification in preventive medicine and
public health. In 1985 Harry established the Epidemiology
Department at Merck Research Laboratories and retired as vice
president from Merck in 2003, in order to become the first
director of the University of North Carolina-GlaxoSmithKline
Center of Excellence in Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health
at UNC, and professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and
Pediatrics. Harry led the UNC Centers for Education and Research
on Therapeutics (CERTS), which focused on the optimal use of
drugs, medical devices and biological products in pediatrics. He
also obtained NIH funding to lead UNC as part of a large NIH
roadmap initiative to study the dynamic assessment of
patient-reported chronic disease outcomes (PROMIS). Harry’s
career straddled pharmacoepidemiology and public health, and he
strove to address practical issues facing the industry and
clinicians with an academic and innovative approach to complex
problems. He has made notable contributions to research on
vaccines, the natural history of complex disease, development
and validation of clinical trial endpoints and patient reported
outcomes, and pharmacoepidemiology, in many cases setting the
industry standard. Harry was a Fellow of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the
American College of Epidemiology. He co-authored more than 150
research articles and served on the editorial boards of
Epidemiology, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, and Journal of
Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He was named to Who’s Who in
Medicine and Health in 2003. He gave invited congressional
testimony on medical data privacy in 1998. Dr. Guess received
the Award for Sustained Scientific Excellence from the
International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology in August, 2005.
Over the years, Harry was a mentor to numerous junior and senior
scientists at Merck, UNC, and other institutions, guiding their
development and improving their understanding of epidemiological
concepts. His success in academia and research was remarkable,
yet his research endeavors were always accomplished while
pursuing one of his passions: teaching and advising graduate
students. At UNC and elsewhere, Harry was known as the
consummate teacher and sought after advisor for graduate
students and colleagues.
He is survived by his wife of forty-one years Geraldine Graflund
Guess; two daughters, Carol Guess of Seattle, Washington and
Alison Guess Fitton and her husband Bruce Howard Fitton and one
grandchild Jacob David Fitton, and a first cousin Evelyn Moore
McGee of Charleston, SC.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to scholarships
established at UNC. UNC-CH School of Public Health Foundation,
Inc. (note it for the Harry Guess Scholarship)
UNC School of
Public Health Campus
Box 7407
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7407 (Tax ID # 56-1717285)
Attn: Charlotte Parks.
An additional scholarship has been presented by Merck Research
Laboratories which will provide matching funds for Merck
employees: The Harry A. Guess-Merck Scholarship in Pharmacoepidemiology UNC-CH School of Public Health Foundation,
Inc. Attn: Charlotte Parks Executive Director, UNC-CH SPH
Foundation, Inc. UNC School of Public Health Campus Box 7407
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7407
A private burial service will be held in New York. Friends may
call at 104 Waterford Place, Chapel Hill on Sunday, 5-7 pm
January 8, 2006.
Harry A. Guess, MD, PhD, died January 1, 2006. Harry was born
December 24, 1940 in New York City, the son of Harry A. Guess
and Vista Brabham Guess. Following his mother’s death shortly
after his birth, he was adopted by his aunt Dorothy Brabham
Guess who had married his father. After his father’s death in
1946, Dr. Guess lived with his adoptive mother in Bamberg, SC.
He attended Georgia Tech on a Navy ROTC scholarship and
graduated in 1964 with both a B.S. and a M.S. He served in the
United States Navy for five and a half years on Admiral
Rickover’s staff at the Atomic Energy Commission, Division of
Naval Reactors. After completing his military service, Dr. Guess
attended Stanford University where he received a Ph.D. in
Mathematics and a M.S. in Operational Research in 1972. After a
year of teaching, Harry spent two years at Bell Laboratories
developing statistical models of communication networks and went
to NIH to work on mathematical population genetics and
biostatistics. There he and others developed what has become a
widely used method for calculating the statistical uncertainty
in cancer risk estimates based on animal data. This work kindled
an interest in taking a more biological approach to
understanding human health risks. He enrolled in medical school
at the University of Miami. (M.D. 1979) with epidemiologic
research as his career goal. His residency training in
pediatrics was the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He
later added board certification in preventive medicine and
public health. In 1985 Harry established the Epidemiology
Department at Merck Research Laboratories and retired as vice
president from Merck in 2003, in order to become the first
director of the University of North Carolina-GlaxoSmithKline
Center of Excellence in Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health
at UNC, and professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and
Pediatrics. Harry led the UNC Centers for Education and Research
on Therapeutics (CERTS), which focused on the optimal use of
drugs, medical devices and biological products in pediatrics. He
also obtained NIH funding to lead UNC as part of a large NIH
roadmap initiative to study the dynamic assessment of
patient-reported chronic disease outcomes (PROMIS). Harry’s
career straddled pharmacoepidemiology and public health, and he
strove to address practical issues facing the industry and
clinicians with an academic and innovative approach to complex
problems. He has made notable contributions to research on
vaccines, the natural history of complex disease, development
and validation of clinical trial endpoints and patient reported
outcomes, and pharmacoepidemiology, in many cases setting the
industry standard. Harry was a Fellow of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the
American College of Epidemiology. He co-authored more than 150
research articles and served on the editorial boards of
Epidemiology, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, and Journal of
Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He was named to Who’s Who in
Medicine and Health in 2003. He gave invited congressional
testimony on medical data privacy in 1998. Dr. Guess received
the Award for Sustained Scientific Excellence from the
International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology in August, 2005.
Over the years, Harry was a mentor to numerous junior and senior
scientists at Merck, UNC, and other institutions, guiding their
development and improving their understanding of epidemiological
concepts. His success in academia and research was remarkable,
yet his research endeavors were always accomplished while
pursuing one of his passions: teaching and advising graduate
students. At UNC and elsewhere, Harry was known as the
consummate teacher and sought after advisor for graduate
students and colleagues.