Professor dies of brain cancer at age 62

By Azadeh Mirbod
Daily Bruin Contributor

Remembered as generous, caring and funny, David Stephen Sigman
did more than just teach chemistry and biological chemistry ““
he was a mentor, colleagues say.

Sigman died at age 62 in his Brentwood home Nov. 11 after
battling brain cancer for two and a half years.

“He was a tough-talking New Yorker who had a heart of
gold,” said Steven Clarke, director of UCLA’s Molecular
Biology Institute, who has been a colleague and friend of Sigman
for 23 years.

Sigman was diagnosed with brain cancer in February 1999 and
underwent surgery and chemotherapy, but he continued to work until
six weeks ago, according to Clarke.

“He was a courageous fighter and continued with his work
and didn’t let it get him down,” Clarke said.

During his career at UCLA, he published more than 130 research
papers in the fields of organic chemistry, biochemistry and
molecular biology and was editor of the reference series “The
Enzymes” since 1988.

“Everyone would say that he was generous. He was humble,
sarcastic, funny and, of course, an excellent scientist,”
said Lisa Milne, an organic chemistry graduate student who worked
with Sigman.

Professor Juli Feigon used the word “mentor” to
describe Sigman.

“When I first arrived at UCLA, he was just the best
colleague to me,” Feigon said. “He was very supportive
and interested in other people’s research.”

“His wit, insight and creativity will be greatly
missed.” Steven Clarke Director of
UCLA’s Molecular

Biology Institute

Sigman played a key role in the renaming of the Molecular
Biology Institute building to Boyer Hall, after UCLA chemistry
Nobel prize winner professor Paul Boyer.

“He looked after people he cared about and made sure they
got recognition,” Milne said.

A charter member of UCLA’s Molecular Biology Institute,
Sigman served as its associate director from 1994-2001. According
to Clarke, Sigman was key to breaking down departmental barriers by
moving from the medical building to the College of Letters &
Sciences.

“David will be remembered as a large part of the collegial
glue that held our biomedical community together. He was a
dedicated mentor of younger scientists both here and elsewhere. His
wit, insight and creativity will be greatly missed,” Clarke
said in a statement.

According to Clarke, Sigman created a new field of bioorganic
chemistry when he discovered that complexes of small organic
molecules with metals could mimic large enzymes in cutting DNA.
This research on DNA gene sequences is being used to develop new
anti-cancer drugs.

Born June 14, 1939, in New York City, Sigman received his Ph.D.
in chemistry from Harvard in 1965 before joining the UCLA faculty
in the department of biological chemistry three years later.

Sigman has been honored as an Alfred P. Sloan fellow, a Josiah
Macy Jr. Foundation Scholar and the B.R. Baker Lecturer at UC Santa
Barbara. He also received the Herbert Newby McCoy Research
Award.

He has also served on the Educational Affairs Committee of the
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and on
National Institutes of Health Study Sections.

He sponsored an outreach program for L.A. high school science
teachers and served as an officer in the local chapter of Phi Beta
Kappa.

A memorial service was held at the Leo Baeck Temple on Nov.
14.

Sigman is survived by wife Marian Diamond Sigman, a professor of
psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and psychology; daughter
Hilary Sigman, professor of economics at Rutgers University; and
Daniel Sigman, professor of geosciences at Princeton
University.

He is also survived by his mother Helen and his three
grandchildren: Merrick, Hana and Darcy.

Donations should be made out to the UCLA Foundation/David Sigman
Memorial Fund in care of Bo Tendis, Molecular Biology Institute,
UCLA Boyer Hall, Los Angeles CA 90095-1570.