Dr. R. L. "Ted" Pardy passed away on Saturday, July 27 at age 86.
He joined the School of Biological Sciences (SBS) at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1977 as an assistant professor and retired in 2011. He studied lipopolysaccharides (lps), also known as endotoxin, in unicellular, eukaryotic algae and discovered a molecule in algae thought to exist only in bacteria.
Later in his career he focused on undergraduate teaching with a well-recognized talent for captivating students in a large lecture format. He received the university's Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award and the Distinguished Teaching Award, and he was honored 18 times by the UNL Parents' Association (now the Friends and Family Recognition Award).
"The breadth of his teaching contributions to undergraduate instruction are most extraordinary," Jack Morris, a previous director of SBS, wrote in an award nomination letter. "The remarkable feature of his total record is reflected in the balanced research contributions that include some 40 research papers, a funded research program, and a good mix of graduate and undergraduate researchers in the lab."
"The goal is to take 50 minutes and have people's lives change," Pardy said. "That is the real challenge."
After retirement, Pardy turned to art, especially watercolor.
"My early formal training in biology involved the traditional approach of careful observation and the detailed drawing of whole specimens and structures seen through the microscope," he wrote in an artist statement on his website. "[V]isual arts, as in drawing and painting, are like science: a way of asking and answering questions."
The Ted and Ann Pardy Biology Scholarship Fund was established for supporting SBS.
"I was able to enjoy many conversations with Ted during my tenure as director," Michael Herman, director of SBS, said. "He was a great source of information and ideas, especially around education."
SBS will share memorial details when available.
