Remembering Richard Hynes, Ph.D.

We are sad to report the death in early January 2026 of Richard Hynes, PhD, from complications of cancer. At the time of his passing, Dr. Hynes was the Daniel K Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research at MIT. He earned an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Cambridge University and completed his PhD in Biology at MIT in 1974. Following postdoctoral study at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, he joined the Biology faculty at MIT in 1975. He held leadership positions in Biology and MIT’s Center for Cancer Research 

and was a Howard Hughes Medical 

Institute Investigator for over 20 years. He assumed the Ludwig Professorship in 1999.  

Dr. Hynes, as a co-discoverer of ECM proteins, fibronectins and integrin receptors, was a pioneer in advancing our understanding of mechanisms of communication between cells and their immediate physical environments. With NAVBO, Richard was a co-organizer of the 2010 Developmental Vascular Biology Workshop and received the Earl P. Benditt Award at the 2010 IVBM. He received NAVBO’s Stephen Schwartz Award for Outstanding Mentorship in 2022, the same year he shard the Lasker Basic Medical Research Award honoring his highly impactful research career. In the wake of Richard’s death, memorial tributes have come forth from numerous organizations, including the American Association for Cancer Research and the Lasker Foundation, as well as his home institution MIT.  Hope Funds, a non-profit supporting innovative research in understudied cancers, honored not only his research contributions but also his dedication to science advocacy and public policy, including co-authoring the National Academies’ Guidelines for Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Human Genome Editing and service on the Board of Governors of the Wellcome Trust.

Closer to home, Martin Schwartz recollects: “I was a postdoc in Richard’s lab in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s not long after he got tenure.  The MIT Cancer Center wasn’t an easy place to be. Scientific standards were very high and uncompromising.  The people around us were incredibly brilliant and dedicated.  But what stands out in my memory is Richard’s generosity.  He helped me move into my first apartment.  He took as much time as needed to instruct someone with a PhD in physical chemistry in the techniques of cell biology.  He invited postdocs over for dinner.  All of this was done with no fuss, it was no big deal.  But his generosity of spirit shone through.”

Sophie Astrof shared: “It is said that navigating the complexities of academia is much easier if one has a parent who is also an academic. Well, Richard was such a parent to me. The time in his lab was the happiest time in my professional life. When I was leaving his lab to start my own, he warned me about the hurdles faced by women in academia and urged resilience. And when those hurdles did arrive, he stood by me, helping with advice at every step. His support and advice in the most crucial moments have enabled me to become a scientist, do what I love, and have a fulfilling life, for which I am eternally grateful.“ The video prepared to accompany the awarding of NAVBO’s Stephen Schwartz Award to Richard in 2022 is filled with similarly heartfelt expressions of gratitude and wonder from a host of Richard’s colleagues and former trainees.

NAVBO sends sincere condolences to Richard’s wife Fleur, their sons Hugh and Colin and their partners, and four grandchildren.