In Memoriam: Scott Grundy
Scott M. Grundy, M.D., Ph.D., a Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, died on Wednesday, Jan. 29. He was 91.
Dr. Grundy joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1981 and served as the founding director of the Center for Human Nutrition, the first such focused enterprise at an American medical school. Over the course of 32 years, he oversaw the Center’s mission to offer a place where faculty could do their independent research of nutrition for the treatment and prevention of disease, provide nutritional education for health professionals, answered questions about how what humans eat affects the body and why, and develop educational programs and consultation services for the community.
“Dr. Grundy’s research has had a profound effect on scientific knowledge in multiple fields related to nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular risk,” says Thomas Wang, M.D., Professor and Chair of Internal Medicine. “He also played a pivital role in the development of statins, a class of drugs that are now widely used in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”
Dr. Grundy held a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, a master’s degree and a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and a doctoral degree from The Rockefeller University in New York City. He was also given an honorary degree in medicine from the University of Helsinki.
He had more than 400 publications related to his research achievements, including the development of methods for measuring cholesterol balance and biliary lipid secretion; identifying the metabolic causes of cholesterol gallstones; defining effects of saturated and unsaturated fats on cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism; uncovering genetic defects underlying hypercholesterolemia and other forms of dyslipidemia; identifying metabolic defects in hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, an hypoalphalipoproteinemia; and defining the mechanisms of action of several lipid-lowering drugs, notably fibrates and HMG CoA reductase inhibitors.
Dr. Grundy also served on the faculty at the University of California San Diego, the National Institutes of Health Phoenix Clinical Research Unit, and The Rockefeller University.
Among his many honors and achievements, he was named a Distinguished Scientist of the American Heart Association (2005) and was a recipient of the organization’s Gold Heart Award (2009). In 2022, Dr. Grundy received the Pioneer in Prevention Award from the American Society for Preventive Cardiology.
Scott Montgomery Grundy was born in 1933 to Allen and Beulah Grundy, the second of three children. His father was a farmer and a lawyer, his mother a homemaker. He grew to be 6 feet 3 inches in height, which enabled him to earn a basketball scholarship to Texas Tech University in Lubbock. During his senior year, he met Lois Parker, whom he married in 1956. They had two children, Pamela (b. 1962) and Stephan (b. 1967). Lois died in 2024, three days before their 68th wedding anniversary. Stephan died in 2021.
Dr. Grundy is survived by daughter Pamela Grundy, son-in-law Peter Wong, grandson Parker Wong, and daughter-in-law Melody Grundy.
“He was not only a brilliant scientist but also a dedicated mentor, physician, researcher, and leader,” says Dr. Jay Horton, Professor and Director of the Center for Human Nutrition. “His impact will be felt for generations to come. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten.”
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Dr. Wang holds the Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine.
Dr. Horton holds the Center for Human Nutrition Director’s Endowed Chair; the Distinguished University Chair in Human Nutrition; and the Scott Grundy Director’s Chair.