Hal E. Broxmeyer, PhD, lost the final round of his battle with thyroid cancer on Dec. 8. Hal was our father, he was our brother, he was our mentor, and he was our friend. His was a life of impact.
On any given day or evening, you could drop by Hal’s office and find him next to a stack of Petri dishes, peering into his microscope counting cells. Well after automated cell counters were invented, Hal, whose research was instrumental in pioneering the field of cord blood transplantation, seemed most at peace when counting cells, notably stem cells.
If there was another place that Hal found joy, it was when he was lifting weights. It was his nerdy appearance with his thick glasses that disguised his chiseled frame. Over a half century ago, this led his future wife to nickname him “Clark Kent.”
At his core, Hal never did things halfway—he was passionate, relentless, and most of all, Hal Broxmeyer was competitive. Weightlifting was not a casual hobby but a vocation that led him to multiple national titles well into his 50s.
Hal won the Master’s Weightlifting National Championship in 1990 and 1994 in his age and weight division. He also competed in the Master’s World Championship in 1993.
Hal was born on Nov. 27, 1944, in Brooklyn, NY. Ron Hoffman, the second chief of Hematology-Oncology at Indiana University, recruited the Brooklyn native from Memorial Sloan Kettering to join our faculty in 1983. This was the same year that George Sledge, Asok Antony, Scott Boswell, and I also joined the faculty.
It was clear from the beginning that Hal was a cut above all of us. Years later, my self-esteem was assuaged as I realized that he was a cut above everyone.
It was his work that made possible the first umbilical cord stem cell transplantation, which took place in Paris on Oct. 6, 1988.
He had the cryopreserved cord blood flown to Paris for the transplantation, buying a separate seat on the Pan Am flight for the “Big Boy” dry shipper cryopreservation tank that contained the cord blood. The foundational publication on the viability of cord blood transplantation followed in 1989. He also started the first cord blood bank at Indiana University.
Since then, an estimated 40,000 cord blood transplantations have been performed worldwide.
This work would lead Hal to receive numerous national and international awards.
He was a recipient of the Karl Landsteiner Award of the American Society of Blood Banks (2002), the E. Donnall Thomas Prize of the American Society of Hematology (2007), the Donald Metcalf Award of the International Society of Hematology and Stem Cell Research (2011), the President’s Medal of Honor from Indiana University (2019), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cord Blood Association (2019), and the Gold Medal of the City of Paris (1993).
Hal would become the first PhD to be elected president of the American Society of Hematology (2010). He was also president of the International Society for Experimental Hematology and Stem Cell Research (1991). His research achievements are reflected by his record of more than 838 peer-reviewed published scientific papers, which have been cited more than 72,552 times.
Hal was the first director of the Walther Oncology Center and chair of Microbiology and Immunology. At the time of his death, he was an IU Distinguished Professor, Mary Margaret Walther Professor Emeritus and professor of microbiology and immunology at IU School of Medicine, and senior advisor to the director of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
He mentored scores of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students, of which many went on to highly productive academic careers.
Hal was a pillar for the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Well before we were initially awarded NCI-designated Cancer Center status, then-Director Steve Williams appointed him to lead the Hematopoiesis, Malignant Hematology and Immunology research program (now HHM). Under his direction, this program was consistently designated as “outstanding,” setting the bar for the other programs.
Well after automated cell counters were invented, Hal, whose research was instrumental in pioneering the field of cord blood transplantation, seemed most at peace when counting cells.
When Dr. Williams succumbed to melanoma, I became the acting director.
During the first external advisory board meeting under my leadership, our performance was mediocre at best. Despite putting on a strong face, I was disappointed, and Hal saw that in my face. He pulled me aside and gave me pointed and strong words of encouragement that a coach would give to a freshman quarterback thrown into a varsity game. From that day on, I was ready to play.
Cancer is rough, and some kinds of cancers are really rough.
Hal’s was one of those cancers. He gracefully went through surgery, subsequently had a recurrence that required a tracheostomy, radiation therapy, and more systemic therapies. He privately kept this years-long battle to his family and a select few.
Though he obviously couldn’t hide his tracheostomy, he still managed to give talks with effort and self-deprecation.
One such talk was on behalf of the HHM program at our center’s competing renewal. His presentation was a tour de force and helped lead us to achieve comprehensive status from the NCI.
To say that Hal was hard working and dedicated would be an understatement. From time to time during the pandemic, we would text each other. When I inquired as to how he was doing, he would deflect the obvious intention of my question and give me a detailed report on his research.
A few weeks ago, Hal sent me his final text, which is abbreviated here:
Good to hear from you. I had a number of very rough days but was able to keep working. Reviewed journal papers and have been working on our own papers. Two submitted last week (to Haematologica and JBC) … I should be able to submit a paper of mine next week and will begin on working on a paper that I started a long time ago with Charles Abrams from U. Penn as soon as we get the last bit of data …Today I feel better than I have for weeks. Hope it lasts, but I am thankful for each good day I have. … What about you? What is new? Best, Hal.
Hal is survived by his wife of 52 years, Beth Broxmeyer (formerly Biller); sons, Eric Jay Broxmeyer (and his wife, Annie Owens) and Jeff Daniel Broxmeyer (and wife, Shira Roza); sister, Claire Goldstein and family; grandchildren, Naomi Francis Roza-Broxmeyer and Issac Louis Roza-Broxmeyer.
Donations can be made in his honor to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America, the American Society for Hematology, the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, or the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation.
