James Tsai Yuan Wu, PhD, 71, the medical director at ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, a national medical reference lab, died suddenly and unexpectedly on March 20 in Taiwan during a consultation visit at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.
Memorial and funeral services were held in Taiwan. His wife, Lily H.L. Wu, his daughter Lena, his son Jason, two grandchildren, two brothers, and one sister survive Wu.
He was born in Hong Kong and moved to Taiwan in 1948, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural chemistry from the National Taiwan University in 1960. Wu earned a master’s degree in chemistry at Oregon State University in 1967, and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Utah in 1972.
After serving as a research assistant professor in biochemistry and pediatrics he became an assistant professor of pathology in 1976, and a tenured professor in 1990. During his career he mentored many medical lab sciences graduate students.
Wu served as medical director of the ARUP special chemistry lab.
He was certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry in 1979, and was an active member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. He served as vice president for the Association of Clinical Scientists in 1996, as president in 1997, and received two key honors: the Sunderman award and the diploma of honor.
The International Research Promotion Council conferred upon Wu the Eminent Scientist of the Year 2007 award in the field of laboratory science and medical research from the United States.
He published 96 peer-reviewed articles, 181 abstracts, 32 invited papers, five books, and 16 book chapters, and gave 142 invited presentations, 25 workshops, and two teleconferences.
Outside academia and the walls of the lab he enjoyed hikes with his wife and sports—especially basketball, tennis, and table tennis. In his younger years, Wu was an avid tennis player. He was passionate about Chinese food and often prepared abundant meals for family and friends.
