Nobel Prize Recipient. Joseph Erlanger, an American physiologist, received world-wide professional recognition after being awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing the coveted award with Herbert Spencer Gasser, who was one of his students at the University of Wisconsin. According to the Nobel Prize committee, the two recipients received the award "for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibers." Since 1935, he received 17 nominations for the Nobel candidacy. Born the sixth of seven children of German Jewish immigrants his father landed in New York City at the age of 16. His father worked his way across the United States, eventually settling in California during the "gold rush," becoming a businessman and marrying his partner's sister. Neither of his parents had a formal education. With years of encouragement from his mother, he entered college after two years of high school. In 1895 Erlanger received a Bachelor in Science, majoring in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. From there, he went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, obtaining his M.D. degree in 1899. Traveling to Germany during a summer, he had a six-week study at University of Strassburg. After a year of hospital training as an intern at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he was appointed as an assistant in the Department of Physiology at the Medical School, being successively promoted to Instructor, Associate, and Associate Professor. With numerous types of newly invented sphygmomanometers on the market, he developed and patented a sphygmomanometer that could measure the blood pressure from the branchial artery, and in 1904 published an article about the device. Being very interested in cardiac physiology, he soon became very respected in the field with offers of a post from various universities. In 1906 he was then appointed the first Professor of Physiology in the newly established Medical School of the University of Wisconsin, where Gasser was one of his students. In 1910 he was appointed Professor of Physiology in the reorganized Medical School of the Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri. Gasser joined him in research at Washington University. During World War I, he and other colleagues studied the treatment of war-wound shock. The results were published under the title "Faradic Stimuli: A Physical and Physiological Study." Recognizing the serious problem of blind landings for pilots, he also developed a new control panel for airplanes. He proved that the American physician, Dr. William Beaumont, who is called the "Father of Gastric Physiology," was correct in his theories of the stomach and added the fact that nerves control digestion of food. The electrical mechanism of the heart led him to switch from cardiac research to neuroscience. Using animals in experiments, he produced heart block by modifying the electrical impulse within the heart. In another experiment, he stimulated a frog's sciatic nerve. In 1922 he published the results of these experiments in the "American Journal of Physiology." When Gasser accepted a position at Cornell University in New York, their professional partnership in research ended in 1931. In 1937, he authored a book titled "Electrical Signs of Nervous Activity." Although ready for retirement, he continued to teach medical students during World War II as the younger professors went to war. In 1946 he retired as chairman of the medical school, becoming emeritus professor there. The same year he published, "A Physiologist Reminisces." Besides the Nobel Prize, he received honorary doctorate degrees from three universities in the United States and in 1948 the University of Brussels. He married and the couple had three children. In 1959, his wife died and six months later, his only son Herman died at the age of 47. In 1965, he died of heart disease, and his home in St. Louis was designated a National Historical Landmark on December 8, 1976.

Nobel Prize Recipient. Joseph Erlanger, an American physiologist, received world-wide professional recognition after being awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing the coveted award with Herbert Spencer Gasser, who was one of his students at the University of Wisconsin. According to the Nobel Prize committee, the two recipients received the award "for their discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibers." Since 1935, he received 17 nominations for the Nobel candidacy. Born the sixth of seven children of German Jewish immigrants his father landed in New York City at the age of 16. His father worked his way across the United States, eventually settling in California during the "gold rush," becoming a businessman and marrying his partner's sister. Neither of his parents had a formal education. With years of encouragement from his mother, he entered college after two years of high school. In 1895 Erlanger received a Bachelor in Science, majoring in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. From there, he went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, obtaining his M.D. degree in 1899. Traveling to Germany during a summer, he had a six-week study at University of Strassburg. After a year of hospital training as an intern at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he was appointed as an assistant in the Department of Physiology at the Medical School, being successively promoted to Instructor, Associate, and Associate Professor. With numerous types of newly invented sphygmomanometers on the market, he developed and patented a sphygmomanometer that could measure the blood pressure from the branchial artery, and in 1904 published an article about the device. Being very interested in cardiac physiology, he soon became very respected in the field with offers of a post from various universities. In 1906 he was then appointed the first Professor of Physiology in the newly established Medical School of the University of Wisconsin, where Gasser was one of his students. In 1910 he was appointed Professor of Physiology in the reorganized Medical School of the Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri. Gasser joined him in research at Washington University. During World War I, he and other colleagues studied the treatment of war-wound shock. The results were published under the title "Faradic Stimuli: A Physical and Physiological Study." Recognizing the serious problem of blind landings for pilots, he also developed a new control panel for airplanes. He proved that the American physician, Dr. William Beaumont, who is called the "Father of Gastric Physiology," was correct in his theories of the stomach and added the fact that nerves control digestion of food. The electrical mechanism of the heart led him to switch from cardiac research to neuroscience. Using animals in experiments, he produced heart block by modifying the electrical impulse within the heart. In another experiment, he stimulated a frog's sciatic nerve. In 1922 he published the results of these experiments in the "American Journal of Physiology." When Gasser accepted a position at Cornell University in New York, their professional partnership in research ended in 1931. In 1937, he authored a book titled "Electrical Signs of Nervous Activity." Although ready for retirement, he continued to teach medical students during World War II as the younger professors went to war. In 1946 he retired as chairman of the medical school, becoming emeritus professor there. The same year he published, "A Physiologist Reminisces." Besides the Nobel Prize, he received honorary doctorate degrees from three universities in the United States and in 1948 the University of Brussels. He married and the couple had three children. In 1959, his wife died and six months later, his only son Herman died at the age of 47. In 1965, he died of heart disease, and his home in St. Louis was designated a National Historical Landmark on December 8, 1976.

Bio by: Linda Davis