Florence Lief, respected virologist

                             By Mary Blakinger
                     PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF

   Florence Suskind Lief, 87, of Bala Cynwyd, an internationally known
   virologist who developed a vaccine to prevent kennel cough in dogs,
   died Sunday at Bryn Mawr Hospital of emphysema and heart failure.
   Dr. Lief was a professor emeritus of virology in animal biology at the
   University of Pennsylvania.
   She was born in New York and graduated from Barnard College there in
   1931. She received a master's degree in science from New York
   University in 1933.
   She worked as a bacteriologist in New York after her marriage in 1933,
   but set her career aside in 1940 to devote herself to her family.
   Dr. Lief's professional career was propelled forward in 1951, when she
   returned to graduate school to earn a doctorate from the University of
   Pennsylvania after the death of her husband of 18 years, Frederick P.
   Lief, a physician.
   She received her doctorate from Penn in 1955 and later became an
   associate professor of microbiology in epidemiology and public health.
   She became a professor of microbiology in 1975 and professor of
   virology in 1977.
   Dr. Lief was a gifted scientist, driven to excel, said her son, Bruce
   A. Lief: "She was extremely bright. She was very scientifically
   minded."
  Between 1961 and 1978, Dr. Lief was an adviser and consultant to the
   World Health Organization. She published more than 50 scientific
   papers and textbook chapters during her career and was considered an
   expert in influenza and other viruses.
   She also developed a vaccine, given in the form of a nasal spray, to
   prevent kennel cough in dogs. She was awarded a U.S. patent for this
   work in 1975. She retired from Penn in 1981.
   In addition to her son, Dr. Lief is survived by two daughters, Cynthia
   L. Ruberg and Ericka L. Greenstein; a brother; a sister, eight
   grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren.
   A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Goldsteins'
   Rosenberg's Raphael Sacks Funeral Home, 6410 N. Broad St.,
   Philadelphia. Burial will be Friday in Mount Ararat Cemetery in
   Farmingdale, N.Y.
   Memorial contributions may be made to American Heart Association, 625
   W. Ridge Pike, Building A, Suite 100, Conshohocken, Pa. 19428.

---
From the U of PA's _Almanac_, Vol. 45, No. 17, 1/19/99

Dr. Florence Lief, Noted Virologist 

Dr. Florence Suskind Lief, a leading virologist who was on the
faculty for almost 40 years, died on January 10 at the age of 87. 

            A specialist in infuenza and other viruses, Dr. Lief did much 
of her early research at Children's Hospital
            and later moved to the Veterinary School where she became
internationally known for her development
            of a vaccine to prevent kennel cough in dogs, in the form of a
nasal spray which she patented in 1975.

            Dr. Lief was a 1931 alumna of Barnard College who took her
M.S. in science from New York
            University in 1933. After working as a bacteriologist in New
York, she set her career aside in 1940 to
            devote herself to her family. In 1951, after the death of her
physician husband Frederick P. Lief, she
            returned to science, taking up doctoral studies at Penn. 

            On receiving her Ph.D. in 1955 she joined the PennMed faculty,
initially as a microbiologist in
            epidemiology and public health. She was consultant to the
World Health Organization from 1961 to
            1978, and published more than 50 scientific papers as she
moved through the ranks to become
            professor of microbiology in 1975. Two years later she became
professor of virology, and she was
            named professor emeritus in 1981.

            Throughout her long affiliation with Penn, Dr. Lief was part
of an extended Penn family. Her
            brother-in-law, Dr. Harold Lief, headed the Penn-based
Marriage Council of Philadelphia and her sister,
            Marcella S. Beresin, was director of audience development at
the Annenberg Center from 1974-84. 

            The next generation includes her son, Dr. Bruce A. Lief, C'62,
who did his internship at CHOP; a
            grandson, Dr. Frederick L. Ruberg, M'98; a nephew, Dr. Eugene
Z. Beresin, who took his M.D./Ph.D.
            in 1977; and two sons-in-law--Dr. Robert Greenstein, who
directed outpatient psychology at HUP in
            1987-95, and Dr. Robert Ruberg, a resident and fellow in
plastic surgery at HUP in 1967-75. 

            She is survived by her son, her twin daughters Cynthia L.
Ruberg and Ericka L. Greenstein, her sister
            and a brother; eight grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren.

            Memorial contributions may be made to American Heart
Association, 625 W. Ridge Pike, Building A,
            Suite 100, Conshohocken, Pa. 19428.



	hillary gorman 	http://www.hillary.net	info@hillary.net
             "uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
                 upenn school of vet med class of 2000