ChoKyun Rha ’62, SM ’64, SM ’66, SCD ’67, an MIT professor write-up-tenure and a groundbreaker in biomaterials science and engineering, died March 2 in Boston. She was 87.
The initial girl of Asian descent to acquire tenure at MIT, Rha held 4 levels from the Institute and taught at MIT for more than four decades. Her spouse, MIT professor of microbiology Anthony Sinskey ScD ’67, also attended MIT, as did their two sons — Tong-ik Lee Sinskey ’79, SM ’80 and Taeminn Track MBA ’95, who is the director of system and strategic initiatives for MIT Information Systems and Technological innovation (IS&T) — and two granddaughters.
“MIT is my household,” Rha instructed MIT Technologies Overview in 2006. “I absolutely really like the Institute and really feel obliged to do no matter what I can for it, not only for the reason that it is accomplished so a lot for me, but also mainly because I really feel I am element of this wonderful establishment.”
Rha was born and elevated in Seoul, Korea. According to loved ones users, her father was a well known health care health care provider who was a pioneer in anatomy, and she made an interest early in chemical engineering, foods science, and food systems for the progress of new meals, medicines, and chemical compounds. Rha arrived to the United States in 1956 with the intention of attending MIT and the concept of discovering how to layout and produce substantial-high quality newborn foodstuff for families in South Korea.
Rha went on to explore the science of biomaterials and their translation toward clinical use. She leveraged frontier applications of chemistry and biotechnology for the discovery of novel biomolecules and superior-resolution molecular construction, operate, and bioactivity perseverance. Her inventive passion and perseverance led to the development of numerous biotech providers in the health and wellness platforms. Following serving to to start off the biopolymer system at biotechnology firm Genzyme, she traveled to Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Australia, selecting to function on biotechnology assignments with Malaysia due to the fact of its biodiversity, knowledge in plantation sciences, and its instructional process. Rha formed and was the principal investigator for the Malaysia-MIT Biotechnology Partnership Program, which involved quite a few Malaysian study establishments and MIT.
Her exploration with undergraduate college students, graduate learners, and postdocs led to technologies that have been foundational to the improvement of a number of biotechnology and food items science corporations and to her publishing extra than 200 papers. Rha held a lot more than 20 patents. She was also a founding member of Women’s Environment Banking, which delivers assist to microfinance establishments that provide credit rating to reduced-profits entrepreneurs in the acquiring entire world, specifically ladies.
During her profession, Rha was recognized as a compelling colleague and educator and a generous mentor. Quite a few condolence notes despatched to her husband and family from all around the earth provided acknowledgements of her mental impact, as very well as fond remembrances of the lots of events, dinners, and culinary adventures she hosted or organized — typically to rejoice the achievements of her learners, colleagues, and pals.
“Professor Rha was an incredible mentor,” says Anushree Subramaniam ’10, a previous MIT student who worked in Rha’s Biomaterials Science and Engineering Lab. “She was an ‘ideas person’ and would really encourage me to desire significant and to try to do perform that would adjust the entire world. I hardly ever had an conversation with Professor Rha the place I did not occur away enriched and owning uncovered a little something. As soon as you met her, you ended up quickly engulfed by the heat of her character, her unparalleled mental prowess, and her iconic model.”
Quite a few shots posted on-line as a memorial showed Rha with college students, colleagues, her household, and her partner, who was “her confidant, colleague, supporter, and lifelong associate,” in accordance to Rha’s granddaughter, Deborah Jiehyun Track.
Rha set up a present annuity in 2006 to support a professorship in interdisciplinary analysis in components and lifestyle sciences, which include microbiology, at MIT. She was quoted at the time as indicating, “A professorship is important, because it is about the pursuit of excellence, which is the spirit of MIT.”
As Track wrote in a tribute to her grandmother, “she will be for good missed and remembered as a shiny soul that strove to change the entire world for the greater with her steadfastness, design, spirit, and smarts.”
In addition to her spouse and two sons, Rha is survived by her daughter-in-regulation, Hyunmee Elaine Tune, and five grandchildren. Rha’s household will host a memorial in October. Gifts in Rha’s memory can be manufactured to the ChoKyun Rha (1962) and Anthony J Sinskey (1967) Fund.