From Nyles Charon

Dear Jane and Tammy,

It's been about a month since Harold passed away.  When I received the notice of his passing and the scheduled funeral via an email message, I immediately relayed the information to Gary Masler.  We both watched via zoom: Gary in Minneapolis, and me in Santa Monica.  Today I read over the amazing obituary written by Tammy.   Thank you.  It was beautifully written and, by God, it captured the man in his entirety.

I have to pass on this information to you, namely, Harold had a tremendous influence on the course of my life.  It goes like this.  We were close friends in college.  We had fun together, and we helped each other out when we could.  He was working the Microbiology Department at the University Hospital, and he called me one day and said that there was a job opening in the Department for someone to clean animal cages.  He said it paid well.  I applied for the job, and I got it, and so for a couple of years I worked weekends and full time in the summer in the Department where they housed the animals.  One professor, Gerhard Brand, took an interest in me.  I am not sure why, but I think it was because I helped him out getting clean cages for his animals that came in after hours.  At any rate, Dr. Brand hired me in the summer to work in his lab and to do some research.  He liked what I accomplished and encouraged me to go to graduate school.  I loved working the lab, so it was a no-brainer to apply, and with time microbiology became my passion and my work for over 50 years.  Indeed, I am fortunate, and it all started with that phone call from Harold.  I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I did not receive that phone call.

A few other memories: I remember one time Harold and I decided to study together for a biology exam at his home in St. Paul.  We were up late going over lecture notes and the text books, so I stayed over that night.  Well, in the morning, Harold set his alarm so that it would ring every 10 minutes. He would get up, turn it off, then go back to sleep.  He said that is how he wakes up.  I never experienced this before and it drove me a little crazy.  That was the last time we studied together at night.

Jane, I remember your wedding well.  Gary and I flew to Memphis and stayed with a friend, Harvey Kaye.  We then took a Greyhound bus to Jackson.  It was a remarkable bus ride through areas of beauty but also profound poverty.  I recall it rained very heavily the day of your wedding, and you and Harold were so happy, and it was a fun dinner party.

In 1974 Regina and I drove to Buffalo to have Thanksgiving with you, Harold, and Tammy.  I was right after we moved to West Virginia.  Tammy was a little girl then, and we brought as a present the Marlo Thomas record "Free to Be You and Me" as a gift.  Regina was adamant on that present (of course), and, regretfully, I less so; I've learned a lot since then. It was a good time, and I remember Harold taking us to Niagara Falls.

It was always good to see you and Harold the few times we were in Seattle, and you both went out of your way to accommodate us and give us the grand tour.  I particularly remember the locks and salmon run. But I remember Harold taking about how much he loved jazz, the jazz cruises, and his passion for teaching.  Las year I was hoping to go up to Seattle after my stay in California and visit, but I came down with Covid and had to cut everything short. Again, Tammy captured Harold so well.  He was a good friend, a mensch, and a wonderful person.

Jane, I know it's a hard time for you, and you are in my thoughts. 

Dr. Modell was my physiology professor at Bastyr and absolutely one of a kind. His classes were hard and he taught physiology using flow diagrams and talked about ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’ which was frustrating at the time. I didn’t understand then that he was teaching us how to learn. His class is the one that sticks with me the most, now 19 years later.

I came to appreciate him so much while I was a student and for years afterward, until he retired from the university. I would see him often at Greenlake and we would walk together a while and catch up. I always looked for him there.

I’m feeling sad today that he has moved on, but so grateful that our paths crossed in this lifetime.

From Mary Pat Wenderoth

Your Dad had quite an impact on the teaching of Physiology. He was recognized before two of the teaching talks at the recent APS meeting and we toasted to him at the start of the APS- teaching section banquet this past Saturday.

Published in The HAPS Blog, by Dr. Murray Jenson 

https://hapsblog.org/2023/04/…

Thank you, Harold, for helping a few thousand physiology students

April 28, 2023

Many A&P instructors (myself included) struggle with the large volume of content covered in A&P textbooks. Years ago, at one of my first HAPS meetings, I posed two questions to a textbook author: “What information in your book is the most important? What do students really need to know?” I will never forget the response. “If it’s in my book, your students should know it.” Wow. Ok. That conversation was memorable because I knew the author was wrong; there must be foundational principles in A&P that can be used to help students think like scientists. But what are they? What are the core concepts of A&P?

Those questions were important to me because at the time I was overseeing a group of high school anatomy and physiology instructors while simultaneously designing a new course for high school students who had goals of pursuing careers in health care fields. Our team had a firm idea of how to teach (guided inquiry and group learning), but we were struggling with “what to teach,” and we knew “everything in the book” was a non-starter.

At the next HAPS meeting, I met Harold Modell and Joel Michael at a poster session. What followed was a lengthy conversation about foundational topics in physiology and how those topics could be used to develop day-to-day curriculum. What a difference. This was useful. I knew quickly that our conversation could frame a whole new A&P course on the core concepts of physiology for my team back in Minnesota. Harold, Joel, and the rest of their research team (Jenny McFarland, William Cliff, Mary Pat Wenderoth, and Ann Wright) went on to write several papers on the core concepts of human physiology.

Below is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Harold and Joel are in the middle, I’m to the right, and we’re surrounded by high school students from the Minnesota dual enrollment program. The picture embodies the flow of information from research to practice. Harold and Joel worked with their team to identify the core concepts and published many papers on that topic. I worked with Joel and Harold to write a curriculum based on those topics, which was then implemented by high school teachers with their students. Today there are 25 high schools in the program, and in the past 10 to 15 years there have been over 10,000 students learning entry-level human A&P using Harold and Joel’s core concepts, guided inquiry, and cooperative group tasks.

Thank you, Harold! You will be missed.

Dr. Murray Jensen is a Professor of Biology Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

So sad to hear of Dr Modell’s passing. Rest in peace Dr Modell. You have such a positive impact for us. Lots of memories from Dr Modell’s class and I learned a lot from you. You will not be forgotten. 

Rest in peace Dr Modell. 

I'm so sad to hear of Dr. Modell's passing.  His class was always my favorite out of all the classes I took at Bastyr.   He had such a hilariously aggravating way of making us think about things instead of just memorizing them, and the lessons in how to learn were definitely as valuable to me as the material itself.  

Dr. Modell is someone that has often popped into my head over the years, and he has come up in conversations with school friends, more times than I would have ever expected of a professor we had in our first year of school, more than 25 years ago.  

Dr. Modell made a lasting impact on us.  His love of education and his enthusiasm for getting us to learn and think, were such a gift for those of us who were fortunate to have him as a professor.  Both he and his teaching will be remembered.  

Professor Modell, thank you for being you, for questioning what we know and helping others think outside of the box. You always asked us what makes sense and I still ask myself that in my day to day practice. I joke with my son “the answer is not on the ceiling,” and “maybe there’s a bean in your ear.”  Thank you for your time, patience, perseverance against ego and arrogance that filled the classrooms, and your unrelenting help to simply make us better thinkers. Will miss you, but your impact stays forever. ❤️

Sincerely,

Elena Zinkov

Thankful for the opportunity to learn from Dr. Modell. May his family find peace knowing he has left quite a legacy.  Accentuate the Positive - helped me in so many ways in my life.  Thank you for your love, care, guidance and always reminding life will continue. https://www.youtube.com/watch…