Klaus Kuettner, who chaired the department of biochemistry at Rush University from 1980 to 2002, was recognized internationally for leading research on cartilage, the connective tissue found throughout the body.
“He and his team were among the first to describe the molecular structure of cartilage, the way in which cartilage lives, the way it gets damaged, the way it may or may not repair itself,” said Dr. Joshua Jacobs, an orthopedic surgeon who chairs the department of orthopedic surgery at Rush.
Jacobs met Kuettner in the late 1980s after coming to Rush as a faculty member, and stressed the importance of his work.
“Osteoarthritis, which is the end stage of cartilage deterioration, is one of our most prevalent diseases, the major cause of disability in adults,” Jacobs said. “Advances in this area can have a major impact not only on individual patients, but on society at large.”
Kuettner, 82, died May 24 of natural causes at Rush University Medical Center, according to his wife, Erzsebet. The couple lived for many years in Lakeview.
Kuettner was born in a part of Germany that is now in Poland. In the aftermath of World War II and the shifting borders and politics of the region, Kuettner and his family eventually came to what was then West Germany as refugees, his wife said.
After earning a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Berne in Switzerland, he immigrated to the United States around 1962. He began his career at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. In 1964, he came to what was then Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital as a research associate in biochemistry and orthopedics, beginning a 52-year career with Rush.
As a junior faculty member of Rush Medical College, he was instrumental in developing the curriculum and attracting students and scientists. He became a professor there in 1977. He became chairman of the department of biochemistry in 1980.
Kuettner’s expertise, and that of his team of researchers, was recognized with ongoing support from the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, according to Rush. In 1991, the World Health Organization named Rush as its first Collaborating Center for Osteoarthritis Research.
Susanna Chubinskaya, associate provost for faculty affairs at Rush University, knew Kuettner and was mentored by him as both a postdoctoral fellow and a faculty member.
“He was very knowledgeable, very inspirational, very supportive,” she said. “It would be hard to find a better mentor who really invested in the life and career of each of us, who built a team who was noticeable for impacting and defining the field of musculoskeletal research, not only in this country but internationally.”
Dr. Thomas Deutsch, Rush University provost, said Kuettner was a natural leader who was counted on throughout the Rush organization. Kuettner established the first Ph.D. program in biochemistry at Rush University.
“He was an inspiration to many generations of young and emerging academics, both physicians and researchers,” said Deutsch, who met Kuettner when he was applying to medical school. “His kind of spirit and enthusiasm for learning captivated me from the first time I met him.”
According to Chubinskaya, 60 graduate students and 88 postdoctoral fellows trained under his mentorship.
Kuettner worked to share that enthusiasm broadly, his wife said.
“He focused also on (young minority students) to open up ways for them to have a peek at biological and medical environments,” she said “He created a summer program for minority students in the 1970s, and some of them really made later remarkable careers. It’s just amazing what influence he had.”
Kuettner received a number of awards for his work, including in 2002 Rush’s highest honor, the Trustee Medal, recognizing “individuals of distinction … whose achievements provide exemplary standards for generations to come.”
Kuettner is also survived by stepdaughters Monica Adler-Werner and Vanessa Adler-Schecter; and a brother, Wolfdieter.
A memorial service will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, in the Professional Building at Rush, 1725 W. Harrison St., Room 500, Chicago.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter.
