Obituary of Gerhard Wilhelm Meissner

January 26, 1937 - May 1, 2021
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Gerhard Wilhelm Meissner was born in Wilhelmshaven, Germany on January 26, 1937. Dr. Meissner received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and a Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany in 1965. He was a Gosney Fellow and Volkswagenstiftung Fellow at the California Institute of Technology, Fellow of the Biophysical Society and an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. Dr. Meissner joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974 and was appointed Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in 1986. During his tenure at UNC Chapel Hill, Dr. Meissner received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health that included two NIH MERIT Awards from 1990-2000 and 2010-2021. His major research interests included determining the structure and function of ion channels and calcium signaling in cardiac and skeletal muscle. Dr. Meissner died on May 1, 2021 and is survived by his wife, Elizabeth M. Wilson, and sons Eric G. Meissner and Geoffrey W. Meissner. There will be a graveside memorial gathering arranged by Walker's Funeral Home at the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery, Highway 15-501 and Legion Road on Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 10 AM.

Walkers Funeral Home in Chapel Hill is assisting the family.