Richard Tureck, 60, in-vitro pioneer

Richard W. Tureck, 60, of Bryn Mawr, director of reproductive surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center from 1994 to 2006, died of a heart attack Oct. 28 while swimming off the Caribbean island of Anguilla.

On Sept. 23, 1983, the first baby to be conceived in a glass dish in Philadelphia was born at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Tureck had been director of the In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer Program at Penn since May 1982, and at the time of the birth, Penn was the only hospital in the region offering the procedure.

In vitro is the procedure in which an egg is removed from a woman's body, fertilized with sperm in a glass dish, and then planted in the woman's uterus.

On the night of the delivery, Dr. Tureck told a reporter, "The last thing I remember seeing approximately eights months ago was an embryo composed of four cells under a microscope.

"Following this pregnancy right through, and seeing a human life born, was really a tremendous experience for us all."

The baby, a girl weighing 7 pounds, 41/2 ounces, was named Jillian Elizabeth, the child of Linda and Robert Johnston of Woodbury.

Steven Sondheimer, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn, said recently: "That baby girl has grown into a healthy adult woman who is now the mother of a newborn child, conceived without the need of infertility treatment.

"Dr. Tureck was a pioneer in the field of infertility."

Dr. Tureck led Penn's in vitro program until he became director of reproductive surgery there in 1994.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Dr. Tureck graduated from Mount St. Michael Academy there in 1967. He earned his bachelor of science degree at Manhattan College in 1971 and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1975.

After completing his internship and residency at the Hospital of Columbia University Medical College in 1979, he joined the Penn faculty.

A fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, he was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Fertility Society, the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the Society of Reproductive Surgeons.

Dr. Tureck is survived by his wife, Pamela; sons Brett and Richard Jr.; and a grandson.

A Funeral Mass was said Nov. 7. Burial was in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd.