Our beloved husband, father, and grandfather; treasured colleague, teacher, mentor and friend, Hal Wolf, passed away on January 22, 2025. A professor at the University of Utah since 1976, Hal’s many decades of teaching, research, and leadership left an indelible mark on his field of pharmacology, his university, and the broader world of pharmacy education that became his life’s work.
Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, Hal had his first job in a pharmacy at age 14. He graduated from Boston English High School in 1953 and from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1956. By this time, the most important event in his life had already occurred: he met and married Joan Silverman. Together, they traveled an immense distance, both attaining PhD degrees and full professorships while fostering a close community of friends and colleagues who shared their commitment to research, teaching, and public service.
Hal first came to Utah to study for his PhD under the eminent pharmacologist Louis Goodman. Joan joined him on this journey to what seemed to them to be an exotic western locale. After defending his dissertation in 1961, Hal began his academic career at The Ohio State University, where, as the Kimberly Professor of Pharmacy, he helped develop a pioneering research program and served as chair of the Division of Pharmacology. While in Ohio, Hal and Joan joined twelve other families in forming Beth Tikvah, a modern reform congregation.
In 1976 he was lured back to the University of Utah to become the nation’s youngest Dean of a College of Pharmacy, also joining the Anticonvulsant Drug Development Program led by his admired mentor Ewart A. Swinyard. He later became director of the program, which has published more than 600 peer reviewed papers and is a leading center for the early identification and characterization of novel investigational anticonvulsant drugs for the symptomatic treatment of epilepsy seizure disorders.
Along with his academic leadership and research responsibilities, Hal taught pharmacology for many decades, leaving countless students with memories of his clear explanations, strict standards, booming voice, and generosity with help. Hal easily lent his confidence to younger scientists and clinicians, and for years after his retirement no member of his family could fill a drug prescription at a pharmacy in Salt Lake City without hearing the question: “Are you related to Dean Wolf?” In 1989, Hal received the Rosenblatt Prize, the University’s highest faculty honor.
Hal made many contributions as part of a generation of foundational pharmacy educators. In 1972-1973, as a Fulbright Scholar, Hal went to Penang, Malaysia to help establish The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. He considered the experience one of the highlights of his career. In 1976 he served as the President of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. From 1989 to 1992 he chaired a committee of preeminent educators to reform pharmacy curriculum. Their mission was to firmly establish the pharmacist as a clinical professional with an indispensable role in patient care. The result was the adoption of a standard six-year PharmD degree, the core training of practicing pharmacists today. Many of his colleagues remember his ethical clarity and firm guidance in managing the political conflicts that stood in the way of advancing pharmacy education. Along with these highlights, Hal was the recipient of dozens of other academic awards, honors and accolades, which, were he able to edit his own obituary, he would counsel us wisely not to list.
Aware of the contributions of earlier waves of American immigrants, Hal always stood firm in his belief that immigrants bring strength to America, whether or not their paperwork is in order. He and Joan established a scholarship program for Salt Lake City high school students through University Neighborhood Partners, whose mission is to overcome mistrust stemming from differences of income, ethnicity, religion, race, and political affiliation. They capped their contributions to the University by endowing The Wolf Prize at the College of Pharmacy, honoring a graduating PhD. student with a demonstrated commitment to teaching.
When he wasn’t working, Hal loved traveling with Joan, and they visited many countries around the globe. But his favorite place was by the water with a fly rod in his hand. He was a tireless fisherman, catching and releasing trout in lakes and streams all over Utah, with annual expeditions with his son David to Alaska and Canada. He was also an accomplished nature photographer, and his photos of birds and fish decorate the walls of many friends and colleagues. Hal brought warmth and encouragement to everybody he met, but especially to his grandchildren, and in recent decades one of his favorite topics was the adventures and interests of Josh, Miranda, and Inez.
Hal is survived by his adored wife of nearly 70 years, Joan (née Silverman); his sons, Gary Isaac Wolf (Christa Aboitiz) and David Neal Wolf (Carrie Martinez); his grandchildren, Mari Inez Aboitiz Wolf, Joshua Wolf, and Miranda Wolf. He was predeceased by his parents, John and Bertha Wolf, and his sisters, Norma Pinkerton (Abraham) and Charlotte Hirshberg (Gene). Hal leaves all of us an immense legacy of love, wisdom, inspiration, and generosity.
Services will be held on Sunday, January 26, 1:30 PM, Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary, 3401 S Highland Dr, Millcreek, UT 84106.
Contributions in Hal’s memory can be made to University Neighborhood Partners, with the note: “Harold H Wolf Memorial/Scholarship Fund.”
Hal and Joan in the late 1950’s.
Hal with students and colleagues in 1962.
Showing Vice President Hubert Humphrey around Ohio State University.