Donald Partridge, PhD

Physiology, Neurosciences

1945-2017

Dr. Partridge earned his B.S. in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967.  After completing two-years of service as a Research Lab Officer at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, he enrolled at the University of Washington where he earned his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1973.  During his postdoctoral training, he spent one year each as a Welcome Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, a NIH Fellow at the University of Washington, and a Fulbright Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute. Dr. Partridge was recruited to the Department of Physiology at UNM in 1976 and rose through the faculty ranks to become a Professor in 1992.  In 1997, he joined the newly formed Department of Neurosciences where he served until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2015.  

Dr. Partridge was an esteemed colleague, research scholar, dedicated educator and compassionate mentor. During his forty-one years at UNM, he taught neurophysiology to medical and graduate students and served on the doctoral dissertation committees for nearly sixty graduate students. His notable accomplishments include creating the Neuroscience Seminar Series in 1984, the first and longest running multidisciplinary seminar series at UNM. He also established the New Mexico Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience, organized the New Mexico Brain Bee for high school students, and volunteered for other science-related activities including many years as a judge for the Regional Science and the International Science and Engineering Fairs.  During his career, he earned numerous awards including a Fulbright Award, the William Dail Award, and the AΩA Robert J Glasser Distinguished Teaching Award. Given his many years of tireless dedication to graduate education, the Department of Neurosciences established the Partridge Prize in 2005 to recognize outstanding research by a neuroscience graduate student.