Former NCBiotech Board Member, Duke Educator Jim Siedow Dies

Longtime Duke University science educator and researcher James (Jim) Siedow, Ph.D., who served on the North Carolina Biotechnology Center board of directors from 2001 to 2014, died on November 15 after a lengthy illness.

Siedow, 73, served four decades as a professor of botany, and later biology, at Duke. He was also the Durham university’s vice provost for research from 2001 to 2017, when he retired.

The Houston, Texas native died in Croasdaile Village in Durham after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. 

Siedow graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas, and in 1972 received his Ph.D. from Indiana University. After postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Michigan and Rice University, he joined the faculty at Duke in 1976, where he taught classes ranging from introductory biology to biophysical plant physiology and conducted research in plant physiology. 

He received an award for exceptional teaching at Duke in 1984 and was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2007. He mentored more than 10 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in academia and the private sector. 

Siedow served as chair of the Duke Academic Council from 1994 to 1996. His contributions to science and North Carolina also included service on the board of governors for the Research Triangle Institute from 1999 to 2014.

He was preceded in death in 2017 by his wife of 46 years, Mary.

Memorial contributions in Siedow’s name may be made to Meals on Wheels, 2522 Ross Road, Durham, 27703 or The Mary Dunn and James N. Siedow Endowment Fund for the Duke Libraries, Duke Gift Records, Box 90581, Durham 27708. Gifts can also be made through the organizations' websites.

Online condolences can be left on the website of Hall-Wynne Funeral Servicein Durham.