William Warner Lamph, Ph.D.

Denise and I send our condolences to you...Bill was our neighbor in La Jolla for a long time, and it saddens us to read that he has left us. Such a bright man, straight shooter, ever-helpful...his neck pain was such a difficult problem and we were amazed at how emphatically he fought to overcome the constant pain. We will remember Bill, and smile. Ron and Denise

My husband, myself and my two sons would like to send our condolences from Munich all the way across the ocean! I first met Bill at the Salk and got to know him a little closer through a dear mutual friend. With her (and Bill's knowledge and equipment) I learned to enjoy Anza Borrego and the clear night skies with galaxies to be observed. About 20 years later I introduced Bill to my husband and my two sons. We will all remember him as a very warm, very fun to be with (even with all his pain) and very smart and thoughtful person. He was the first to show my sons that there is a world beyond: he let my then very little boys look through his big telescope and discover Mars and let them take a walk on the Milky Way. They will always remember him for that. And my husband and I will always be thankful for this special moment in our lives. Bill, we miss you. I believe this planet has become a bit poorer without you. Susanne

I am deeply saddened to learn that Bill Lamph passed away on December 13th,2020, just a few months after his 68th birthday. Bill joined my laboratory in Mid 1980's after obtaining his doctoral degree at University of Wisconsin at Madison. He had an imposing physique but a very soft touch. Alternatively, boisterous and thoughtful, full of compassion but also not shy in showing his temper, when he perceived unfairness. Always willing to help others, even at the expense of his own work . He made several important contributions, often working together with an Italian-French postdoctoral fellow, Paolo Sassone -Corsi, who also sadly passed away some months ago at age 62. Together they showed that oncogenes Jun and Fos form heterodimers to function as powerful transcriptional factors. Bill was instrumental in showing that protooncogene Jun, like its counterpart Fos is serum inducible gene. Because of his willingness to help and collaborate with others, he was a co-author on many important scientific papers. Bill joined Ligand Therapeutics, a biotech company working on nuclear receptors. Bill was fun to have around, a very loyal friend, someone I always enjoyed to talk about wide spectrum of subjects ranging from unique culture of Utah compared to California, politics, his love for astronomy that he shared with Paolo Sassone-Corsi and “His 4 wheel truck”…only postdoc who ever had a truck! Bill unfortunately suffered from a very bad back and, on days, really suffered but never complained. Losing a student is like losing a family member and it hurts to lose them . Let everyone gather With no heartaches or tears. Let the bright memories flow From all the past years. Inder Verma, PhD

I met Bill many years ago at the Salk Institute. Of course, a snippet of a story does not capture a person but I will add one snippet. He was one of the 2 most dyslexic people I have known, which I mention because it was a defining part of who he was. Because education was not configured in a way that was intuitive for him, he learned how to configure and reconfigure information such that he could process, learn and build on knowledge to yield a smart, differentiated perspective. In a very tangible way, it seemed to me that the intersection of how he sensed the world and his life experiences were expressed in his unique view of life. His view of the world determined his values, which then defined his morals and he never stopped trying to improve himself. To facilitate my life, I need order. Bill did not need (or like) extreme organization; his mind was comfortable with a chaotic mess of “stuff”. If, for example, I could not find my keys amongst clutter, he could recall immediately that he’d seen them “under the left counter below the edge of the fruit basket”. His mind was not constrained by how things were currently understood or to how things were classified or structured. Rather, he let the details float around until they came together as needed or of their own accord. He called himself “The Finder” and I think this ability to observe, differentiate and retain details in chaos were the foundation of his skills as a scientist. To me, understanding his perspectives was both challenging and rewarding. While he was very selective in his friendships, he deeply embraced sciences and history – from atoms to ancient civilizations to galaxies. He was infinitely patient with and curious about natural processes – be that the migration of stars across the night sky or the record of evolution preserved in fossils. He befriended my sons and, when they were young, he shared his youthful interests with them by building kites, shooting off bottle rockets and sending rubber-band powered planes into flight – after which Bill and my boys would camp out in the living room in front of the fire. We sadly say good bye to Bill, our friend, the scientist and The Finder. Grai

Bill was my boss at Ligand for most of the seventeen years I was there. He was a great boss, taught me much, and very patient with me. He loved the seven layer bars (with dried apricots) that I would make at Christmas time, and the bottles of Scotch I learned to give him. The Scotch parties were a lot of fun! Thanks for the memories, and here's a Scotch in your memory, Bill!