Thilly, a pioneer in the study of human genetic mutations, had been a member of the MIT faculty since 1972. Throughout his career, he developed novel ways to measure how environmental mutagens affect human cells, creating assays that are now widely used in toxicology and pharmaceutical development. He also served as a director of MIT's Center for Environmental Health Sciences and in the 1980s established MIT's first Superfund research program ' an example of his dedication to ensuring that MIT's research would have a real-world impact, colleagues say. 'He really was a giant in the field,' says Bevin Engelward, a professor of biological engineering at MIT. 'He took his scientific understanding and said, 'Let's use this as a tool to go after this real-world problem.' One of the things that Bill really pushed people on was challenging them to ask the question, 'Does this research matter' Is this going to make a difference in the real world''' 'Many of the students and postdocs Bill...
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