In Memoriam: Dr. Walter F. Riker

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Dr. Walter F. Riker

Dr. Walter F. Riker, the Revlon Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology and Toxicology, died Feb. 20 at the age of 87. 


Dr. Riker was one of the leading researchers who studied how nerves control muscle function, and his findings led to the greater understanding and diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases. In 1956, Dr. Riker was appointed chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at Cornell—a position he held for the next 27 years. Dr. Riker held several distinguished professorships at Cornell; the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology in New Jersey; the University of Kansas; Morehouse College in Atlanta; and even a visiting position in Japan. Throughout his career, Dr. Riker was awarded with several "Excellence in Teaching Awards" in recognition of his commitment to education and dedication to students.

Dr. Riker was best known, however, for his work with the National Football League (NFL), when in 1973 he was appointed its first drug advisor. For 11 years, Dr. Riker served the NFL by establishing a system that required doctors to report all drugs that were being prescribed to professional athletes. At the time of the appointment, the NFL faced numerous drug scandals regarding purported steroid use among players. Dr. Riker's warnings concerning drug abuse and his push for drug accountability are now commonly accepted practices in the professional athletics field.

Walter Franklyn Riker Jr. was born in the Bronx on March 8, 1916. He earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia University and later his M.D. at Cornell Medical College in 1943. In 1960, he was elected into Alpha Omega Alpha, the only national honor medical society in the world. Dr. Riker is credited with creating and implementing the first minority education program at Cornell Medical College in 1968. His awards include the "Torald Sollmann Award," the "Oscar B. Hunter and John J. Abel Awards in Pharmacology," and the "Maurice Greenberg Distinguished Service Award" from Cornell.

Dr. Riker spent his entire 53-year career within the Cornell medical complex. In his autobiography, close friend and Nobel Laureate in Medicine Dr. Robert Furchgott wrote of Dr. Riker, "His enthusiasm for research in pharmacology was contagious." Although Dr. Riker retired from the Medical College in 1983, he remained an active member in the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, serving in various positions, including chairman and trustee of publications.

Dr. Riker is survived by his wife of 62 years, Virginia; three sons, Dr. Donald Riker, a pharmacologist, Walter Riker III, and Wayne Riker; his brother Dr. William Riker, emeritus chairman of pharmacology at Oregon Health & Science University; sister Virginia Huebner; and seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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