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Katheryn RESING
Katheryn A. H. Resing
November 1, 1944-January 8, 2009
Katheryn Ann Hartman Resing was born in Garden City,
Kansas to Alfred Hartman and Betty Pelnar. Her parents
divorced when she was very young, and she was raised
by her mother and the extended family of both parents.
She grew up in Wichita where she attended North High
School, and married John Resing in 1964. She obtained
a Bachelor's degree in Biology and teaching certificate
from Washburn University, Topeka, after which she
taught high school biology for two years. She then
obtained a Master's in Botany from Washburn University,
where she studied plant cytogenetics.
In 1969, Katheryn accompanied her husband to Seattle,
Washington, where she gave birth to two sons and raised
them while taking university coursework. She enrolled in
the Biochemistry graduate program at the University of
Washington, Seattle, graduating with a Ph.D. degree in
1985. She divorced in 1981.
Katheryn carried out her Ph.D. and postdoctoral work on the chemistry of the skin protein,
profilaggrin, working with the protein chemist, Kenneth Walsh, and the skin biologist, Beverly
Dale. There, she carried out one of the first studies applying the technology of mass
spectrometry to map protein phosphorylation sites. The 400 sites she mapped on profilaggrin
remained a record for the number of sites on a single protein identified by mass spectrometry for
many years.
In 1992, Katheryn moved to Colorado, where she became Research Associate Professor of
Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She created the protein
mass spectrometry facility for the campus, designing it into one of the first training labs in this
technology for graduate students. She became Director of the Central Analytical Facility in 2003.
She published many papers using proteomics to identify targets of signal transduction pathways
in human cells. At the time of her death, she was working with her students to develop innovative
computational methods to increase the accuracy of analyzing proteins by mass spectrometry.
Katheryn loved life and lived it with zest. She was an empathetic listener with a broad sense of
humor, who saw problems as opportunities for change. She worked hard to train students
rigorously and further their careers. She loved cats, was an avid gardener, and enjoyed knitting,
sewing, needlepoint, and painting. She was a grateful member of OA. She devoured books,
especially science fiction, and transmitted her love of reading to her sons and granddaughter.
Above all, her passions were for science, new ideas, and solving puzzles of any kind, especially
mass spectra. We will all miss this extraordinary and beloved woman.
Katheryn is survived by her partner of 30 years, Natalie Ahn, sons Robert Resing and William
"Chip" Resing, and granddaughter Elizabeth.
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