Richard Robert Gala, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Physiology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, had died. He was 80.
Dr. Gala died Sept. 22, 2015, while fishing, his favorite pastime.
He received his doctorate degree from Rutgers University in 1963, conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Louisville, and was a faculty member at Boston University from 1965 to 1970, before joining the faculty at Wayne State University in the Department of Physiology in 1971. He retired as a full professor in 1997.
Dr. Gala made important discoveries about the regulation of synthesis and secretion of prolactin, a hormone that controls milk production. He was the recipient of numerous grants from the federal government, and was the author of more than 140 scientific articles. His international recognition included awards in 1988 as a Distinguished Foreign Scholar from the Taiwan National Science Council and Meiji University, Japan. Highly respected as a teacher of endocrinology to medical students and graduate students, Dr. Gala mentored numerous graduate students and post-doctoral students who went on to distinguished careers.
He was the driving force behind a popular and valuable endocrinology journal club in the WSU Department of Physiology. An emeritus professor following his retirement, Dr. Gala traveled to Botswana in 2002 to study crocodiles. An avid fisherman, in recent years he worked with colleagues on scientific studies on Lake Erie and provided interesting fish for display at the Belle Isle Aquarium.
He is survived by his wife, Callie; daughter, Leslie Gala; son, Richard Robert Gala II; stepdaughter, Lisa (Calvin) Drew; stepson, Richard J. Hoxie; sister Rita (John) Guibert; nephews, John and Christopher Guibert; and brother-in-law Ted (Freda) Thompson.
Visitation is Sept. 27 from noon to 4 p.m., with a 2 p.m. service at the Kinsey-Garrett Funeral Home, 420 S. Lafayette, Royal Oak, Mich.
The family asks that donations in Dr. Gala's memory be made to the following:
The Warren Astronomical Society, P.O. Box 1505, Warren, MI 48090-1505.
Wayne State University, addressed to: Leigh Trerice, Development and Alumni Affairs Wayne State University, School of Medicine, 1369.8 Scott Hall, 540 E. Canfield, Detroit, MI 48201. Please include memo: To Physiology in memory of Richard Gala.
The Belle Isle Aquarium c/o Belle Isle Conservancy. Donation via website at https://belleisleconservancy.org/get-involved/donations/. Include in the memo box: "For Belle Isle Aquarium gar exhibit, in memory of Richard Gala, who caught the longnose gars."