Herbert Spencer Gasser

Herbert Spencer Gasser
Gasser in 1944
Born	(1888-07-05)5 July 1888 Platteville, Wisconsin
Died	May 11, 1963
Nationality	United States
Fields	Physiology
Institutions	Rockefeller University Washington University in St. Louis
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin-Madison Johns Hopkins University
Known for	Action potentials
Notable awards	Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1944)

Herbert Spencer Gasser (July 5, 1888 – May 11, 1963) was an American physiologist, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1944 for his work with action potentials in nerve fibers while on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis, awarded jointly with Joseph Erlanger.

Glasser was born in Platteville, Wisconsin, the son of Jane Elisabeth (née Griswold) and Herman Gasser, a physician. His father was from Dornbirn in the Austrian province Vorarlberg, and his mother was of New England Yankee and German Russian ancestry. He received his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1915. During World War I he was engaged in chemical warfare research at American University. He was professor of physiology at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

Further reading

• Chase, M W; Hunt, C C (1995), "Herbert Spencer Gasser – July 5, 1888 – May 11, 1963.", Biographical memoirs. National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) 67: 147–77, PMID 11616345 
• Perl, E (1994), "The 1944 Nobel Prize to Erlanger and Gasser.", Faseb J. (1994 Jul) 8 (10): 782–3, PMID 8050679 
• Kenéz, J (1968), "[Milestones in the development of electrophysiology (Herbert Spencer Gasser)]", Orvosi hetilap (1968 Aug 11) 109 (32): 1779–82, PMID 4886065 
• Sulek, K (1968), "[Nobel prize for Joseph Erlanger and Herbert S. Gasser in 1944 for the discovery of high differentiation of the functions of various nerve fibres]", Wiad. Lek. (1968 Jul 15) 21 (14): 1273–4, PMID 4880790 

External links

• National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir