I try hard but could not hold the tears back…

Bill, thank you for the humanity you showed to the world; thank you for the beauty you brought to my life; and thank you for the wisdom you enlightened me over the years.

You are not gone. As one day, you said to me: I believe the Spirit. You’ll be always with us. 

I was Bill's last grad student at UCSF.  His lab proved to be an excellent learning environment.  Bill was stretched thin with his duties at UCSF and founding Chiron with Pablo and Ed during my tenure in his lab.  Bill was integral in my life beyond being a grad advisor.  I met my wife, Angelica "Chica" Medina in his lab as she came from Chile to UCSF to work with Pablo and Bill.  Together they discovered the technology to generate the first recombinant HBV vaccine derived from yeast.  As did many members of the lab, Bill attended our wedding.  He saw our first son as Angelica was leaving UCSF the day after giving birth.  

Bill's lab was akin to a mini United Nations.  Folks from all over were welcomed, with scientists from Chile, the UK, Australia, Israel, Mexico, Sweden and China.  Leslie Spector was Bill's assistant who held the lab intact and typed my thesis (pre Microsoft Word).  I have so many memories of those days!

Angelica left UCSF to work at Chiron as one of the earliest employees.  She and Doris Coit worked as a team at Chiron and the subsequent enterprises for ~35 years.  I joined Chiron years later, working in Vaccines with Michael Houghton and Jeff Ulmer for 10 years before departing for Medarex.  During that time I had numerous interactions with Bill.  One characterization of Chiron that stuck was "managed chaos", which was fitting.  Chiron was successful in many aspects, with the identification of the HepC virus and the resulting diagnostics.  The acquisition of the larger Cetus brought PCR technology to Chiron as well the ultimate approval of IL2 for oncology.  Chiron grew from a small company to a large company with global footprints.  When Bill, Pablo and Ed started Chiron, there was no business development paradigm to follow, as they and Amgen and Genentech set the stage for numerous biotechs to follow.  

Even after leaving Chiron, I was fortunate to stay in touch will Bill.  I participated in a small effort at Synergenics for a couple of years.  Thereafter, I would meet with Bill at his office 1-2 times a year, up to late 2024.  I enjoyed the lengthy discussions of my work at Medarex/BMS on immunotherapy.  He was fascinated with the development of anti-PD-1 antibodies and the resulting profound clinical results in oncology.  Bill advanced his own interests in human antibodies with Humabs inc.  His depth of knowledge and insights into industry were nothing short of awe inspiring.  

Bill was a unique individual in so many ways.  For me, I was struck by his dedication to science and its applications.  Few have the stamina to dedicate every aspect of life to these endeavors as did Bill .  He committed 24/7 to his passions.  I admired and respected Bill.  Rest in peace.

It was a true honor to meet Dr. Bill Rutter. We worked together on developing anti-SARS CoV-2 therapeutics, and while I wish our project had achieved more, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with such an extraordinary person and to have received his support.

I regret not reaching out during his illness, and I apologize for the delay in sending this message. It was an immense privilege to know him, and I will always carry that with me. I hope to live in a way that honors his legacy.

May he rest in peace. -Mi-Young (from Korea)