Peter Lipton

Madison - Peter Lipton, 79, died of Adrenal Cortical Cell Carcinoma on June 19th, 2019 in Madison, his home since 1972. Peter leaves behind Patricia his wife of 56 years and many deep and loving relationships with his cousins and friends.

Peter was born in New York City on December 24th, 1939, the only child of Ruth and Conrad Lipton. He grew up in a loving home that valued political activism and humanity and those values have always been a part of Peter. At the age of 13, after the death of his father, Peter went to live in England with his mother and stepfather. This move provided the opportunity to become fully knowledgeable about the rules of cricket and a decent club player, providing some acceptance as a proper English school boy. While he was getting his BA degree in Physics at Oxford University Peter was captain of his college tennis and field hockey teams. Sports and a passion for science, which he had from his early teenage years, were key elements of his early life and continued to be so through his lifetime. He bridged the "C.P. Snow gulf" by his additional love of art, theatre, film, politics and literature. This all contributed to making Peter who he was...much beloved and a joy to be with.

After Oxford, Peter earned a MS in Biophysics from the University of Edinburgh, a PhD at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Britton Chance at the Johnson Foundation, University of Pennsylvania. In 1972 he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at UW Madison, where he was ultimately promoted to Professor. He was a pioneer in the studies of hippocampal brain slices and how anoxia damages brain tissue. In addition to his work in this area of research, he was an excellent teacher and contributed broadly to creating the undergraduate component of the UW Neurosciences Training Program. He spent countless hours teaching, championing and mentoring undergraduate neuroscience majors in the lecture hall and in his laboratory.

Peter brought humor, joy, energy and an intensity to life that will be sorely missed. He was a free spirit, lived life to the fullest and was a kind and gentle man.

A celebration of Peter's life will be held at a later date in Madison, WI. Those who wish to honor Peter are encouraged to contribute to one of the causes he valued (WORT, WI Public Radio/TV, Planned Parenthood of Dane County).
https://www.wortfm.org/donate/
https://wptschedule.org/Donate/
https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/onlineactions/cOJVhOyrzkq4uBcxVekXFA2?tabs=true

Peter's family would like to thank Agrace HospiceCare for their attentiveness and consideration.

Cress Center
6021 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53705