Russ Smullen, Jr., deputy director of the information systems section (ISS) at the National Institute on Aging, died suddenly in his Silver Spring home on May 17. He was 49.

To his coworkers, Smullen was a data master who thoroughly understood the NIH grants process, knew how to program computers and understood how to work with data so they were useable. In his role as ISS team leader, he acted as a human firewall and was always on the front lines solving problems at work. In his 17 years at NIA, he embodied the philosophy of not sweating the small stuff.

Smullen worked hard and enjoyed life in and out of the office. "He was a happy person whose happiness was contagious," said Lee Bacon, a long-time friend who worked for Smullen in the ISS. "At work, Russ would often walk down the hall whistling or singing, 'I'm a happy boy. I'm a happy boy.' He was more of a mentor than a boss."

Smullen always had time for his employees, who were often also his friends, added Bridgette Hodge, an ISS colleague who met Smullen in 1989. "If you told him about an interest you had, he would find articles and books to give you," she said. "He knew I had an interest in the piano, and he gave me a keyboard he had sitting in his attic. Every year, Russ bought $60 of Girl Scout cookies for his staff, even though he was a diabetic and couldn't eat them. He said, 'It's only money.'"

To the wider NIA family, Smullen was known as the Grand Master Elf who ran the institute's holiday party. Since 1997, he developed sumptuous menus, selected party games and concocted exotic blender drinks. He loved throwing parties and always encouraged people to bring their friends to his annual barbeque.

In addition to parties, Smullen loved adventure gaming, personal computing, music, film and his Jack Russell terriers, Peanut and Popcorn. He also enjoyed science fiction by Isaac Asimov and Harry Turtledove, among others, and regularly attended science fiction conventions around the world.

Smullen was born in Washington, D.C., the middle son of Bernice Peek Townsend and the late Russell Edwin Smullen, Sr., and a stepson to Larry Thomas Townsend. He is also survived by two brothers, David Smullen of Westover, Md., and George Smullen of Deerfield Beach, Fla., and two nephews.

Five new members were recently named to the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Council:

Dr. Kevin P. Campbell is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and chair of the department of physiology and biophysics at the University of Iowa. He is also a professor of neurology and internal medicine at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.

Carmen Cheveres de Mummey is an interior plantscape specialist at Canfield Persons in Westlake Village, Calif. She previously served on the board of trustees of the National Psoriasis Foundation, led a psoriasis support group for 3 years and participated as a patient advocate for the National Health Council's Skin Disease Coalition.

Dr. B. Lee Green is an associate professor with the division of health education, College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University. He is also director of the Center for the Study of Health Disparities at Texas A&M.

Dr. Joshua J. Jacobs is associate dean for research development and associate chairman for academic programs at the department of orthopaedic surgery at Rush Medical College, Chicago. His primary research focus is total joint replacement.

Patricia A. McCabe is the public information specialist with the Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C. She has chaired the research committee while on the National Marfan Foundation board of directors since 1997, and has been a member of an institutional review board for the National Human Genome Research Institute.

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