Dear Rich and the community,
That is very sad, Jacob was an incredibly kind and nice person, I will miss him a lot.  

Richard Gomer

________________________________________
From: DICTY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Kessin, Richard H. [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2016 5:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [DICTY] Jakob Franke

A Message to The Dictyostelium Community:

It is with deep regret that we share the news of the unexpected passing of Jakob Franke on Thursday, November 10, 2016, in Northvale, NJ.

An exemplary devotee in the field, Jakob worked on Dictyostelium for nearly forty years, first with Maurice Sussman at Brandeis, and from 1974 to 2008 with Richard Kessin at Harvard and Columbia. Jakob made seminal contributions to the field: he was responsible for some of the first studies on induced protein synthesis. He also developed a minimal medium, FM, for the growth of Dictyostelium amoebae, advancing the genetic analysis of this organism. He purified the cAMP phosphodiesterase and its inhibitor, which led to the cloning of both genes. Jakob created a complete reference bibliography of the Dictyostelium literature and started the Dictyostelium Stock Center, now housed at Northwestern University.

Originally from The Netherlands, or more exactly Friesland, he made his home in the U.S. with his wife Gely and daughters, Dr. Ettaly Jobes and Dr. Arva Rogers.

Jakob's dedication and influence extends to numerous technicians, students, and post-doctoral fellows. Their reminiscences and tributes will appear at a later date.

Richard Kessin
Box 463
Norfolk, CT 06058
[log in to unmask]
860 542 3950

Stefan Pukatzki
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Aurora, CO 80045
[log in to unmask]
(608) 886-1848