Herbert Spencer Gasser (1888-1963)

Awarded the Prize “for his discoveries relating to the highly differentiated functions of single nerve fibres.”

American neuro-physiologist. Gasser was born in Platteville, Wisconsin on July 5, 1888. In 1910, he graduated A.B. at the University of Wisconsin, and A.M. in 1911. He earned his M.D. in 1915 from the Johns Hopkins Medical School. After a year at Wisconsin he went to Washington University, becoming Professor of Pharmacology in 1921. In 1931 he was appointed Professor of Physiology and Head of the Medical Department at Cornell University. From 1935 to 1953 he was Director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, being later a member emeritus of the Institute. Gasser died in New York on May 11, 1963.