Wallace O. Fenn


Wallace Osgood Fenn was a physiologist, chairman of the department of physiology at the University of Rochester from 1925 to 1959. He also headed the University's Space and Science center from 1964 to 1966. He was also the president of the American Physiological Society, the president of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and the president of the International Union of Physiological Science. His work on heat generated by muscles, oxygen use by the nervous system, and potassium equilibrium in muscle, as well as pressure breathing and nitrogen narcosis, was recognized internationally. The New York Times called him a "leading physiologist". Other recognitions includes honorary degrees from the University of Chicago, the University of Brussels and from the University of Paris, as well as the following awards: Feltrinell International Prize for Experimental Medicine and the Guggenheim award of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Biography

Fenn was born in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. degree in 1914. His graduate work and Ph.D. thesis were interrupted by World War I, and he finished it upon return from the army in 1919. He was an instructor at Harvard Medical School from 1919 to 1923. He then studied at the Rockefeller Institute for two years. Subsequently, he assumed his position as the chairman of the department of physiology at the University of Rochester, where he stayed until 1959. He specialized in the physiology of runners, then in aviation, and later in space exploration. The American Physiological Society obituary described him as " sincerely modest man avoided the spotlight and never dominated a meeting or conversation, but he was forceful when required and had a warm, outgoing nature with a delightful sense of humor".

Chronology

Other publications:
  • Daggs, R. G. Wallace O. Fenn, 1893–1971. Physiologist 14: 301–303, 1971.
  • Physiology on horseback. Past-president's address. Am. J. Physiol. 159: 551–555, 1949.
  • Fenn, W. O. Born fifty years too soon. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 24: 1–10, 1962.
  • Fenn, W. O. History of the American Physiological Society: The Third Quarter Century, 1937–1962. Washington, DC: Am. Physiol. Soc., 1963.
  • Fenn, W. O. History of the International Congresses of Physiological Sciences, 1889–1968. Washington, DC: Am. Physiol. Soc., 1968.
  • Rahn, H. Wallace O. Fenn, president of the American Physiological Society, 1946–1948. Physiologist 19: 1–10, 1976.
  • Rahn, H. Wallace Osgood Fenn, August 27, 1893 – September 20, 1971. Biogr. Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 50: 141–173, 1979.