SAN DIEGO -- Renowned immunologist Frank J. Dixon, founder of The Scripps Research Institute, died Friday in San Diego. He was 87.

Dixon died of heart failure at an area hospital, according to Keith McKeown, a spokesman for The Scripps Research Institute.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Frank's death, and the sad occasion served to remind us of how much Frank has contributed through the years to Scripps Research and to basic biomedical science in general," said Richard Lerner, president of the institute.

"To all of us who were fortunate enough to know and work with him, Frank was the model of the modern scientist, demonstrating equal creativity and talent both as an investigator in the laboratory and as the institute's first director," Lerner said.

Dixon was born in St. Paul, Minn. on March 9, 1920. He earned his doctoral degree at the University of Minnesota in 1943.

He went on to serve in the Navy before becoming a research assistant at Harvard Medical School's Department of Pathology.

Dixon later taught at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis. In 1950, he became chair of the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

He came to La Jolla in 1961 with four other scientists to establish the Department of Experimental Pathology at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, which would later become The Scripps Research institute. Dixon led the program for two decades.

Dixon is survived by Marion, his wife of 62 years, three children and four grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.