An internationally recognized expert on electron microscopy, chromosome structure and function, and the use of DNA to study evolutionary relationships, Hewson H. Swift, Ph.D., the George Wells Beadle Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the departments of molecular genetics & cell biology and pathology, and a member of the committees on genetics and on developmental biology at the University of Chicago, died at the University of Chicago Hospitals on January 1, 2004, from complications of influenza. He was 83.

A pioneer in the use of quantitative microscopy, Swift was the first scientist to measure the amount of DNA in various types of cells and in cell components such as mitochondria or chloroplasts, work that helped convince biologists that these organelles had genomes of their own. His finding that nearly all cells from an animal have the same amount of DNA, and that germ cells have half as much, confirmed the principal of DNA constancy and helped bring to an end any lingering skepticism about the genetic role of DNA.

In 1949, Swift accepted a position teaching zoology at the University of Chicago. He has remained at the University ever since, rising to the rank of professor in 1958, serving as chairman of the department of biology from 1972-1977 and becoming the George Wells Beadle Distinguished Service Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Pathology in 1977.

His 54 years at the University were interrupted only by one year as a visiting professor at Harvard and another year as senior visiting research fellow to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, based in Australia.

In 1960, Swift and biologist Keith Porter, then at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, agreed to start a small scientific society, to be known as the American Society for Cell Biology whcih would become the most important professional society in the field. They organized the society's first meeting at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago and were pleasantly surprised when 700 scientists showed up, contributing 230 papers. While serving as president of the ASCB from 1963-1964, Swift helped launch the Journal of Cell Biology, which became the Society's official journal.

Swift is survived by his wife Joan, who has a Ph.D. in child development and has developed, taught and administered programs in child development throughout the Chicago City Colleges; two daughters, Deirdre Ann Swift of Chicago and Barbara S. Brauer of San Geronimo, California; and three grandchildren. A Divisional memorial service was held on January 31st in Bond Chapel.

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