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On a wet spring day, May 9, 1944, Arno Spatola was born in Albany, Upstate New York. He was the second child of Salvatore and Liberty Spatola, loving parents who nurtured Arno and his older sister, Lylet, in the values of being an American with deep respect for their Italian heritage. This certainly included his palate for and knowledge of fine Italian cuisine ! His father immigrated to New York from Sicily when he was a 17-year-old boy, while his mother was born in New York, having been named in respect for the Statue of Liberty. Quite extraordinarily, his parent's families lived within 10 miles of each other, in Sicily! Arno and the sister he loved dearly shared adventures growing up in post-war times while his aptitude for science and interests in music, culture and politics were developing. In addition, he learned both English and Italian languages, encouraged by other family members. As many of his friends and colleagues will attest, this diverse background served him well in later accomplishments, and, on occasion, in confrontations.

Because Arno exhibited academic promise, he received a scholarship to attend Cornell University where he received an A.B. degree in 1966 with a major in Chemistry and a minor in political science. His excellent performance resulted in fellowships from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Professor Daniel T. Longone, receiving his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1971. Arno's life-long pursuits in peptide chemistry were founded in the excellent training he received there in organic chemistry and in his next academic quest in Arizona. He often remarked at his good fortune in joining the laboratory of noted chemist, Victor J. Hruby at the University of Arizona for postdoctoral research in peptide synthesis and activity. These were the exciting days of the early seventies when biologically active peptides were the center of interest worldwide, and Arno relished his participation in historic investigations of oxytocin and neurophysins in Professor Hruby's laboratory.

In 1973, the University of Louisville recruited him to the Department of Chemistry to initiate a peptide synthesis research program. Arno rapidly rose through the academic ranks to Professor, largely due to his innovative research and university wide involvement in advancing academics and collaboration. He has held an appointment in the Department of Biochemistry since the mid-seventies and became a vital member of the Cancer Center team, even before it's naming. As his research program accelerated, he served as Visiting Professor at the University of Padova, Italy, with the renowned organic chemist, Claudio Toniolo, in both 1982 and 1990.

Among Arno's major research interests are pseudopeptides, cyclic peptides and cyclic peptide libraries, and recently he and his talented team have developed inhibitors of nuclear hormone receptor proteins for application in cancer research and treatment. He originated the "psi-bracket" pseudopeptide nomenclature and, together with his collaborators, pioneered in the area of metalloprotease inhibitors and ammonium formate catalytic transfer hydrogenation. In 1990 Arno co-chaired a nationally acclaimed Gordon Conference on Peptides where numerous emerging technologies and applications in the synthesis, assessment and biology of these agents were announced. Although his contributions and awards are too numerous to list, it is worth noting he is a longtime member of the Council of the prestigious American Peptide Society, currently serving as Secretary.

As if an academic career wasn't enough, Arno founded Peptides International, Inc. in 1983 as an outgrowth of his peptide research. This Louisville-based company specializes in fine biochemicals, peptide-related products and custom synthesis. Research at PI, Inc. is funded by NIH/SBIR and industry grants as well as Kentucky's first NSF/SBIR grant, dealing with membrane-based peptide synthesis. Approximately two-thirds of its employees have either M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. Then in 1996, Arno realized his longtime dream with colleagues from the Belknap and School of Medicine campuses by founding a multidisciplinary research and training program, the Institute for Molecular Diversity and Drug Design, or as he called it, the IMD3. In just five years, the annual IMD3 Symposium, held in March, has become a highly touted success attracting nationally and internationally acclaimed speakers and participants. In April of 2003, Arno's significant accomplishments and high academic regard at the University of Louisville were recognized when he was presented the President's Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creativity.

More than 20 years ago, Arno met a striking, composed southern lady from Tennessee who would prove to be a superb complement for his Herculean energy and interests! As many of his friends recall, he couldn't stop speaking of Jacqulyn "Jackie" Browning and how she mesmerized him. Their courtship had elements of an Italian opera and in his characteristic, determined manner, Arno convinced Jackie of his devotion and love. On January 5, 1982, after skiing in the morning overlooking the beautiful snowy landscape of St. Moritz, Switzerland, Jackie and Arno were wed in the Rathaus of the village! Together, they continued to expand Peptides International and develop his career as they built their family, and on August 27, 1989 their daughter, Kimberly Elysia was born. Arno often described Kimberly as his "greatest synthesis" while his friends viewed a multitude of photographs, in his words, of the "most perfect little girl". Arno adored Kimberly and genuinely loved being involved in her development and sharing her experiences. One of the last photographs of the three of them together was taken as Kimberly was departing for a language-oriented trip to Germany.

Arno loved his bountiful and busy life, filled with family, friends, research, academics, students, UofL sports events and tail-gating, political arguments, gourmet dinners, wine tastings, pizza, travel, Saturday morning jogs with the gang and countless other activities that would exhaust a normal person! The spirit of this remarkable man will live on in his daughter Kimberly, his wife Jackie and other family as well as the multitude of talented students he trained and those of us fortunate enough to call Arno, friend!