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Robert A. Good (1922-2003), M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., FACP, was a founder of modern immunology and a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation. His major areas of research were the cellular basis of immunity, thymus function, immunodeficiency diseases, cellular engineering, and nutrition. In 1965, Good reported evidence that the tonsils performed important functions in the very young. In 1968, he performed the first successful human bone marrow transplant. He served as President and Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York from 1973 to 1980, and then as Professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa from 1985 to 2003. Good authored more than 2500 peer reviewed scientific papers and abstracts and wrote or edited more than fifty books.

Robert Alan Good (1922-2003), B.A., 1944, M.D., Ph.D., 1947, University of Minnesota, was a pediatrician, microbiologist, and pathologist. Good was a founder of modern immunology and a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation. His research focused on the cellular basis of immunity, thymus function, immunodeficiency diseases, cellular engineering, and nutrition.

Good was born 21 May 1922 in Crosby, Minnesota. His father, a high school principal, died of cancer when Good was still young. As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota he suffered from a polio-like illness that required the use a wheelchair. Good was eventually able to walk unassisted, though with a noticeable limp. While at Minnesota, he earned a B.A., M.D., and Ph.D. After finishing his graduate studies he completed his pediatric internship and residency at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, 1946 to 1949. Good was then a fellow at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, 1949 to 1950, and the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellow in Rheumatic Fever Research, 1948 to 1950. Upon returning to the University of Minnesota, Good held several positions in the pediatrics department, including Instructor of Pediatrics, 1950 to 1951; Chief Resident in Pediatrics, 1950 to 1951; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, 1952 to 1953; Associate Professor of Pediatrics; and American Legion Memorial Professor of Pediatrics, 1953 to 1972. Good also served as Professor of Microbiology, 1962 to 1972, and was the Regent’s Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology, 1969 to 1972. Good’s research activities at Minnesota include: in 1962, his team identified the thymus gland as a primary source for mammalian lymphocytes and soon played a key role in differentiating between B-cells (bursa-derived, or bone marrow-derived) and their activities and T-cells (thymus-derived) and their activities; in 1965, Good outlined the important role that tonsils play in the development of the immune system of mammals, including humans; and in 1968, he led a team that performed first successful bone marrow transplantation.

In 1972 Good moved to the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York, serving as President and Director until 1982. During this time Good also held attending positions at Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases and New York Hospital, as well as being an adjunct professor and visiting physician at Rockefeller University.

From 1982 to 1985 Good was Head of the Cancer Research Program at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, also serving as Attending Physician and Head, Section of Pediatric Immunology, Oklahoma Children’s Memorial Hospital, Oklahoma City, and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. Good moved to the University of South Florida, Tampa, in 1985, serving in several positions, including Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, 1985 to 1991, and as University Professor and Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 1985 to 2003. During this time he also served at All Children’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, as Physician-in-Chief, 1985 to 2001, Director, Allergy and Immunology Training Program, 1986 to 2003, and Director, Children’s Research Institute, 1985 to 2003.

Good died in 2003 of esophageal cancer. He was survived by his wife and colleague of seventeen years, Dr. Noorbibi K. Day-Good and step-sons Khalil and Selim Day; brother Roy Good; and five children from his first marriage: Robert, Mark, Alan, Margaret, and Mary.

Robert Alan Good was a founder of modern immunology and a pioneer in bone marrow transplantation. He was born in Crosby, Minnesota and received his Ph.D. and M.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1947. He began teaching at the University in 1944, becoming a professor of microbiology in 1962 and regents' professor in pediatrics and microbiology in 1969.

During his nearly 30 years of research at the University of Minnesota he documented the importance of the thymus gland and performed the first successful human bone marrow transplant in 1968. He was a founding member of the National Institutes of Medicine and was awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Medical Research Award for his pioneering work in solving the mysteries of immunity and applying his research to fatal diseases. In 1972 he was recruited to be president of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. At the time of his death in 2003 he was physician in chief and director of research at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.