In memoriam. Louis G. Welt.

Louis G. Welt was a man of preeminent stature. To his friends, he played the roles of confidant, counsellor, and when necessary, stern critic. He shared their problems, trials, and tribulations; and he took great pleasure in their accomplishments and achievements. To his students, he was the embodiment of the compleat academician: a sensitive and empathetic physician, a teacher of rare ability-capable of translating the most complex and enigmatic formulations into simple, comprehensive, and eminently logical concepts. To his house staff, he was broadly knowledgeable and rigorous in setting standards of excellence, which he met himself and then expected others to meet, and a friend to whom they could turn when they found the world of the intern or resident too hostile, too confusing, or simply too overwhelming. To his research fellows, he was indefatigable, a constant source of new ideas and stimulation. To his faculty, he was the peripatetic professor who nevertheless always seemed to know of their individual goals and aspirations and to find time and energy to assist in the achievement of both. To the biomedical community, he was an innovative investigator with a rare and almost unique ability to cross the barrier between the basic and the applied, making original and substantive contributions in both arenas. To the community of nephrologists, he was, in addition to being a scientist and translator and clinician par excellence, the man who helped to found the American Society of Nephrology and then to become one of its early presidents, the man who authored the most comprehensible text on body fluids and electrolytes, and the man who, together with Dr. Maurice Strauss, edited the most authoritative textbook in nephrology yet to appear. To the academic community at large, Louis Welt was a spiritual leader with impeccable judgment and a quality of selflessness that led him to assume burdens of responsibility and leadership roles of staggering dimensions. He worked for the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, the National Kidney Foundation, the Association of Professors of Medicine, the Committee on National Medical Policy of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and a host of other organizations and agencies. He was the President of the Association of Professors of Medicine; he was to have become the President of the Association of American Physicians. To the practicing internists across the nation and the world, he was the Professor of Medicine who combined scholarship with humility and dignity and with a quality of earthiness. To me personally, he was one of my closest and dearest friends, cherished and irreplaceable. He inspired me, he protected me, and he never failed me. His death was a shattering blow for he was one of the most youthful of men in academic medicine. His verve and vitality, and his undaunted enthusiasm kept him young and buoyant. He pushed aside tragedy, illness, and adversity, with what was