122 Years Ago …

The Department of Physiology was founded in 1888, the same year as the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. Millard and Jackson Hall had yet to be built, electricity had just started a few years prior, and no one had heard of antibiotics or x-rays yet. The “germ theory of disease” was only two decades old.

Test your

Physiologist knowledge!   1. His early discovery of “doubly labeled water” to measure

total body metabolism went largely unnoticed for years – name him.

2. This physiologist is credited with coming up with the BMI – the Body Mass Index, a statistical tool growing in popularity (along with national waistlines) for measuring height-weight ratios.

3. Name the physiologist and his life-saving drug that were overnighted on a Northwest airlines jet in 1967 to save Dwight D. Eisenhower’s life.

4. Known as “Father Time,” this physiologist coined the term “circadian rhythm” – who is he?

5. Name the physiologist and prominent citizen/activist who said the following, at the end of his career:

“. . . first of all, pay attention to your scientific creativity

and productivity. But also remember that you live in a society

as I have in which there are many acute problems in which your

scientific expertise may help society solve its problems and,

perhaps not less important, in which the ethic of truthfulness,

which is at the heart of the scientific method, may be infused

into societal decisions.”

A Brief History of the Department of 

IInntteeggrraattiivvee BBiioollooggyy &&

Millard Hall

Jackson Hall

Man

yim

ages courtesy of th

e Un

iversity of Min

nesota A

rchives; oth

ers courtesy of th

e dep

artmen

t

PPhhyyssiioollooggyy

Received Ph.D. from U of M, Department of Physiology in

1925, did postdoctoral work at University College, London

with E. H. Starling

Held faculty position at U of Tennessee and was department

head at USC and U of Chicago before returning to the

U of M as Head of the Department of Physiology

Had an exemplary career as a researcher, teacher,

administrator and humanitarian

Published over 280 papers and books with over 150

collaborators; including studies on cardiovascular,

pulmonary, gastrointestinal and renal physiology

Believed his two most important scientific accomplishments

were (a) the demonstration that heart muscle becomes less

efficient as it fails and cardiotonic drugs generally restored

its efficiency, and (b) pioneering work using isotopes to

define and measure the absorption of electrolytes by the

small intestine

Most notable collaboration at the U of M was with Dr. Owen

H. Wangensteen, Head of the Department of Surgery: they

conducted a regular physiology-surgery conference

acquainting residents and graduate students with current

research and experimental techniques, and trained many

surgeons in Physiology Department laboratories

During his tenure as department head, collaborations

between the departments of Physiology, Surgery, Medicine

and Pediatrics made the U of M one of the top medical

research institutions in the country

Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1956; also a

member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and

American Philosophical Society; was president of the

American Physiological society, secretary-general of the

International Union of Physiological Sciences, and vice-

president of the American Heart Association

Named U of M Regents Professor in 1967

Elias P. Lyon, M.D., Ph.D. Simultaneously made both Department Head of Physiology, as well as

Dean of the Medical School

Helped establish the teaching fellowship at the Medical School, making

graduate study attractive and economically feasible for smart but

underprivileged students from Minnesota and all over the country.

Conducted two highly regarded regular seminars: one, a lunchtime

interdepartmental literature seminar for graduate students and staff,

and the second on medical and biological science history, held at his

own home in the evening, attended primarily by graduate students

Awarded three honorary doctorates: an M.D. in 1910, a J.D. in 1920 by

St. Louis University, and D.Sc. by the University of Southern California in 1930

Officially appointed the first professor of

physiology and Department Head

A former Minneapolis Commissioner of Health,

Beard was not a formally-trained physiologist;

his interests lay more in planning and

organizational work than in scientific research

As yet there was no biochemistry department,

nor pharmacology, although these subjects

together with physiology became part of a

“three-legged stool” that comprised the

education in the basic medical sciences

Notable Former Faculty:

Frederick H. Scott Joseph T. King Allan Hemingway Ancel Keys Frederick Kottke Nathan Lifson Ernest B. Brown Franz Halberg Carlo Terzuolo

Marvin Bacaner John A. Johnson Victor Lorber William Kubicek Carlos Martinez Ernst Gellhorn Mead Cavert James Bloedel

* Interim Department Heads: Richard E. Poppele (1986-1988), Joseph Di Salvo (1998-2002), O. Douglas Wangensteen (2002-2008)

Eugene Grim, Ph.D. Received his Ph.D. from the Department of Physiology in

1950, working with Karl Sollner

Member of Physiology Department faculty from 1951 to 1988

Stressed the importance of a strong quantitative background

in physics, chemistry and math

Studied water and solute transport in the intestine and across

artificial membranes; pioneered the use of microspheres to

measure regional blood flow

Served as Gastrointestinal Section editor for the American Journal of Physiology and Journal of Applied Physiology

Robert F. Miller, M.D. Investigator in the area of retinal physiology and

pharmacology who came to the Physiology Department

from Washington University, St. Louis

Received Proctor Medal Award from Association for

Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO’s highest

award)

Expanded and enhanced neuroscience research, teaching

and training at U of M

Joseph M. Metzger, Ph.D. Previously, was Professor and Associate Chair of Molecular and

Integrative Physiology, and Director of the Center for Integrative

Genomics at the University of Michigan Medical School

Associate Editor of Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics and past member

of the NIH Cardiovascular Study Section

Research interests include cardiac genetic engineering and integrative

genomics

Currently holds Maurice B. Visscher Endowed Chair in Physiology

at U of M

Maurice B. Visscher, M.D., Ph.D. Richard O. Beard, M.D.

122 Years Ago …

The Department of Physiology was founded in 1888, the same year as the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. Millard and Jackson Hall had yet to be built, electricity had just started a few years prior, and no one had heard of antibiotics or x-rays yet. The “germ theory of disease” was only two decades old.

Test your

Physiologist knowledge!   1. His early discovery of “doubly labeled water” to measure

total body metabolism went largely unnoticed for years – name him.

2. This physiologist is credited with coming up with the BMI – the Body Mass Index, a statistical tool growing in popularity (along with national waistlines) for measuring height-weight ratios.

3. Name the physiologist and his life-saving drug that were overnighted on a Northwest airlines jet in 1967 to save Dwight D. Eisenhower’s life.

4. Known as “Father Time,” this physiologist coined the term “circadian rhythm” – who is he?

5. Name the physiologist and prominent citizen/activist who said the following, at the end of his career:

“. . . first of all, pay attention to your scientific creativity

and productivity. But also remember that you live in a society

as I have in which there are many acute problems in which your

scientific expertise may help society solve its problems and,

perhaps not less important, in which the ethic of truthfulness,

which is at the heart of the scientific method, may be infused

into societal decisions.”

A Brief History of the Department of 

IInntteeggrraattiivvee BBiioollooggyy &&

Millard Hall

Jackson Hall

Man

yim

ages courtesy of th

e Un

iversity of Min

nesota A

rchives; oth

ers courtesy of th

e dep

artmen

t

PPhhyyssiioollooggyy

122 Years Ago …

The Department of Physiology was founded in 1888, the same year as the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. Millard and Jackson Hall had yet to be built, electricity had just started a few years prior, and no one had heard of antibiotics or x-rays yet. The “germ theory of disease” was only two decades old.

Test your

Physiologist knowledge!   1. His early discovery of “doubly labeled water” to measure

total body metabolism went largely unnoticed for years – name him.

2. This physiologist is credited with coming up with the BMI – the Body Mass Index, a statistical tool growing in popularity (along with national waistlines) for measuring height-weight ratios.

3. Name the physiologist and his life-saving drug that were overnighted on a Northwest airlines jet in 1967 to save Dwight D. Eisenhower’s life.

4. Known as “Father Time,” this physiologist coined the term “circadian rhythm” – who is he?

5. Name the physiologist and prominent citizen/activist who said the following, at the end of his career:

“. . . first of all, pay attention to your scientific creativity

and productivity. But also remember that you live in a society

as I have in which there are many acute problems in which your

scientific expertise may help society solve its problems and,

perhaps not less important, in which the ethic of truthfulness,

which is at the heart of the scientific method, may be infused

into societal decisions.”

A Brief History of the Department of 

IInntteeggrraattiivvee BBiioollooggyy &&

Millard Hall

Jackson Hall M

any

images cou

rtesy of the U

niversity of M

inn

esota Arch

ives; others cou

rtesy of the d

epartm

ent

PPhhyyssiioollooggyy

122 Years Ago …

The Department of Physiology was founded in 1888, the same year as the Medical School at the University of Minnesota. Millard and Jackson Hall had yet to be built, electricity had just started a few years prior, and no one had heard of antibiotics or x-rays yet. The “germ theory of disease” was only two decades old.

Test your

Physiologist knowledge!   1. His early discovery of “doubly labeled water” to measure

total body metabolism went largely unnoticed for years – name him.

2. This physiologist is credited with coming up with the BMI – the Body Mass Index, a statistical tool growing in popularity (along with national waistlines) for measuring height-weight ratios.

3. Name the physiologist and his life-saving drug that were overnighted on a Northwest airlines jet in 1967 to save Dwight D. Eisenhower’s life.

4. Known as “Father Time,” this physiologist coined the term “circadian rhythm” – who is he?

5. Name the physiologist and prominent citizen/activist who said the following, at the end of his career:

“. . . first of all, pay attention to your scientific creativity

and productivity. But also remember that you live in a society

as I have in which there are many acute problems in which your

scientific expertise may help society solve its problems and,

perhaps not less important, in which the ethic of truthfulness,

which is at the heart of the scientific method, may be infused

into societal decisions.”

A Brief History of the Department of 

IInntteeggrraattiivvee BBiioollooggyy &&

Millard Hall

Jackson Hall M

any

imag

es c

ourt

esy

of t

he

Un

iver

sity

of

Min

nes

ota

Arc

hiv

es; ot

her

s co

urt

esy

of t

he

dep

artm

ent

PPhhyyssiioollooggyy