From The October 2001 Issue of Nutrition Science News

Varro Tyler, 1926-2001

LAFAYETTE, IND.—Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., an internationally renowned expert in the field of pharmacognosy and botanical medicine, died Aug. 22. He was 74.

Tyler was the author of more than 30 books and 350 scientific and educational articles. He had a 30-year career at Purdue University, located here, serving as the dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences and as the Lilly Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy. He retired in 1996.

Tyler, affectionately known to his friends as Tip, was an expert on the safety and therapeutic efficacy of herbal products and was a popular speaker on the topic.

"Tip had a magical ability to explain something scientific in a way that made it understandable to those outside the field," says Marilyn Barrett, Ph.D., of Pharmacognosy Consulting Services in Redwood City, Calif.

"He was committed to herbal medicine—if the herbs had been shown through a rational scientific process to have safety and efficacy according to known scientific principles," says Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council in Austin, Texas.

"Tip championed the middle ground," says Steven Dentali, senior director of botanical sciences at Nutricia in Boca Raton, Fla., an operating group of Royal Numico. "I am sure he was not thrilled by the lack of support and expression of disappointment he received from many of his academic peers because of his involvement in herbal medicines. Not perceived as a friend of the herbal community either, he told me that if both ends of the spectrum were unhappy with him then he was probably holding a fair position."