A specialist in neurology, neuropathology and neuroanatomy, Cummings began teaching at Cornell soon after earning his degrees at the university: a bachelor of science in 1958, doctor of veterinary medicine in 1962, master of science in 1963 and a Ph.D. in anatomy in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps from 1965 to 1967 in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Department of Neurophysiology and returned to that facility as a visiting research neuroanatomist from 1974 to 1975.
Cummings was appointed an assistant professor of anatomy in 1967, an associate professor in 1971 and a full professor in 1977. Since 1991 he led a research team that tracked the spread of a crippling affliction in horses, equine motor neuron disease, and studied its similarities to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or Lou Gehrig's disease) in humans.
Veterinary College Dean Franklin M. Loew, a Cornell classmate of Cummings, said: "For the past 35 years it was my pleasure to have known John. His having been taken from us so soon leaves a great sadness in our college and a huge gap in our teaching and research programs. As the elected secretary of the college, his affection for and loyalty to Cornell University and its students, staff and fellow faculty members was abiding. We are, to use John Donne's words, 'diminished by his death.'"
Calling hours for Cummings will be today, Nov. 7, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Bangs Funeral Home, 209 West Green St., Ithaca. The funeral will be held on Friday, Nov. 8, at 11 a.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church. The Cummings family has indicated that, in addition to the funeral service on Friday, a memorial service will be held on campus at a later date.