Former pharmacology professor Eva Killam dies at 84

UC Davis recently lost a distinguished member of its community with the passing of Eva K. Killam, professor emerita in the Department of Pharmacology. Killam died July 30, in Southern California, at age 84.

Along with her late husband Keith F. Killam, Jr., Eva Killam was among the original faculty members of the UC Davis School of Medicine when it opened the doors to its first students in 1968. She began her career at UC Davis as a professor of physiology, but later transferred to the Department of Pharmacology, where she joined her husband, who founded the department and served as its chair.

Killam was born in New York and completed her undergraduate degree in biology from Sarah Lawrence College. She earned her doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Illinois and came to California as a junior research pharmacologist at UCLA School of Medicine.

In addition to her research and teaching duties at UC Davis, Killam was very active in professional organizations, serving as the first female president of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and as president of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. She also served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics for many years.

Killam served as a professor of pharmacology until her retirement in 1991. She was a resident of Davis for 40 years before moving to Pasadena after the death of her husband in 1998.

She is survived by her son, Paul F. Killam; two daughters, Dr. Anne Killam Bonneville and Melissa Killam Gerard; a brother and sister; three grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.