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Alfred Newton Richards

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Alfred Newton Richards
Alfred Newton Richards in 1954
Born(1876-03-22)March 22, 1876
Stamford, New York, US
DiedMarch 24, 1966(1966-03-24) (aged 90)
Alma materYale University
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society[1]
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania

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]

Career

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Richards 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

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He married Lillian L. Woody in 1908.[5]

Recognition

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Richards' 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

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In addition, Richards was awarded the following honorary degrees:

Doctor of Science
Doctor of Laws
Doctor of Medicine

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Alfred Newton Richards — Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "Alfred Newton Richards". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  8. ^ "Alfred N. Richards". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
  9. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
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