Former endocrinology division chief and founder of the Carver College of Medicine Distinguished Mentor Award leaves lasting impact on diabetes research, education, and clinical care
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Written by
UI Health Care
Daryl Granner, MD
Daryl Granner, MD

Daryl Granner, MD, professor emeritus in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and a world-renowned leader in diabetes research and training, died April 17 in Iowa City. He was 89 years old.

Over a career that spanned more than 50 years at the UI and Vanderbilt University, Granner made tremendous contributions to the scientific understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of diabetes. He also was recognized as an outstanding teacher and mentor who shaped the careers of hundreds of biomedical researchers in endocrinology and metabolism.

A prolific scholar, Granner authored over 260 peer-reviewed research papers and delivered more than 250 lectures around the world. His research and expertise on the genetic regulation of hepatic glucose metabolism by insulin and glucocorticoids was instrumental in characterizing the role of altered hepatic metabolism in insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes.

With his wife, Nancy Granner, a 1958 UI alumna, Granner established the Daryl and Nancy Granner Distinguished Mentor Award and Lecture at the Carver College of Medicine in 2022, an annual celebration that recognizes distinguished medical faculty who have served a significant portion of their career at Iowa and whose mentees have gone on to distinguished careers of their own. The annual event includes a Distinguished Mentor’s Lecture given by an eminent scholar selected and invited by the Distinguished Mentor Award recipient.

A native Iowan from the town of Algona, Granner earned bachelor’s (cum laude, 1958) and master’s and medical (1962) degrees at Iowa. After finishing residency training in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, he completed a fellowship in molecular biology research at the National Institutes of Health, followed training in clinical endocrinology at the University of Wisconsin.

He returned to Iowa in 1970 as a faculty member in the UI Department of Internal Medicine, and he became director of the department’s endocrinology and metabolism division in 1975. As division chief, he established the Molecular Endocrinology Training Program and the Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center. In 1984, he joined Vanderbilt to serve as chair of its physiology department. He also led the Vanderbilt Medical Scientist Training Program and the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center.

Daryl Granner at his desk, circa 2008.
Daryl Granner at his desk, circa 2008.
Daryl Granner, MD, with E. Dale Abel, MD, PhD, former chair and DEO of the Department of Internal Medicine and former director of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center, in 2017.
Daryl Granner, MD, with E. Dale Abel, MD, PhD, former chair and DEO of the Department of Internal Medicine and former director of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center, in 2017.
Daryl Granner, MD, with Peggy Nopoulos, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the 2022 recipient of the Carver College of Medicine Distinguished Mentor Award.
Daryl Granner, MD, with Peggy Nopoulos, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the 2022 recipient of the Carver College of Medicine Distinguished Mentor Award.

In 2008, Granner returned to Iowa as professor emeritus at both the UI and Vanderbilt, and he became the founding director of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the UI. He served as the center’s director until 2013, when he became director emeritus.

Granner received numerous awards for his work and his impact on diabetes research, education, and treatment. In 2001, he was named a recipient of the UI Distinguished Alumnus for Achievement. Other awards he received include the Charles R. Park Award for Scientific Achievement from Vanderbilt, the Department of Veterans Affairs Middleton Award for Scientific Achievement, and the Albert Renold Award for Distinguished Service in Mentorship and Training of Diabetes Research Scientists from the American Diabetes Association.

Granner’s obituary is available online.