Alfred Newton Richards (March 22, 1876 – March 24, 1966) was an American pharmacologist.[1][2] Richards, along with Wearn, is credited with the method of renal micropuncture to study the functioning of kidneys in 1924.[3]
Alfred Newton Richards | |
|---|---|
 Alfred Newton Richards in 1954 | |
| Born | March 22, 1876 |
| Died | March 24, 1966 (aged 90) |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Pennsylvania |
Career
editRichards was born in Stamford, New York the son of Rev. Leonard E. Richards and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Burbank. He was educated at the Stamford Seminary and Union Free School. He then studied at Yale University.[4]
He served as chairman of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's department of pharmacology from 1910 to 1946 and was the university's vice president of medical affairs from 1939 to 1948.
In 1941, then U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Richards chairman of the Committee on Medical Research. The office was terminated five years later, in 1946, after which Richards became president of the National Academy of Sciences, serving until 1950.
In 1948, President Harry Truman appointed Richards to the Medical Affairs Task Force of the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government; Richards also became a director of Merck & Co., for which he had consulted since 1931, and an associate trustee of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1948.
Family
editHe married Lillian L. Woody in 1908.[5]
Recognition
editRichards' technique for the study of kidney functioning is considered a landmark in animal physiology research.[6] The Richards Medical Research Laboratories building at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the best-known and most influential designs of architect Louis Kahn, is named for him.
Awards and honors
edit- Abraham Flexner Award of the Association of American Medical Colleges
- Gerhard Medal of the Pathological Society of Philadelphia
- Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians
- John Scott Medal of the City of Philadelphia
- Gold Medal of the New York Academy of Medicine
- Keyes Medal of the Association of Genito-Urinary Surgeons
- Philadelphia Bok Award
- Procter Award of the Philadelphia Drug Exchange
- Guggenheim Cup Award
- Lasker Award
- Kovalenko Medal of the National Academy of Sciences.
- Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society of London
- Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences[7]
- Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences[8]
- Member of the American Philosophical Society[9]
In addition, Richards was awarded the following honorary degrees:
References
edit- ^ a b Schmidt, C. F. (1967). "Alfred Newton Richards 1876-1966". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 13: 327–342. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1967.0017. PMID 4900894.
- ^ Alfred Newton Richards — Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
- ^ Wearn, J.T.; Richards, A.N. (1924). "Observations on the composition of glomerular urine, with particular reference to the problem of reabsorption in the renal tubules". Am. J. Physiol. 71: 209–227. doi:10.1152/ajplegacy.1924.71.1.209.
- ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ Sands, Jeff M. (2004). "Micropuncture: unlocking the secrets of renal function". American Journal of Physiology. Renal Physiology. 287 (5): F866–F867. doi:10.1152/classicessays.00019.2004. ISSN 1931-857X. PMID 15475539. S2CID 33531359.
- ^ "Alfred Newton Richards". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
- ^ "Alfred N. Richards". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-06-08.