Britton "Brit" Chance (July 24, 1913 – November 16, 2010) was an American biochemist, biophysicist, scholar, and inventor whose work helped develop

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

as a way to diagnose medical problems. He was "a world leader in transforming theoretical science into useful biomedical and clinical applications" and is considered "the founder of the biomedical photonics." He received the National Medal of Science in 1974. He also was an Olympic athlete who won a gold medal in sailing for the United States at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

in the 5.5 Metre Class.

Early life and education

Chance was born in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

. His parents were Eleanor Kent and Edwin Mickley Chance, president of United Engineers and Constructors, Inc, which built power plants. His father was also a mining engineer, chemist, and inventor who held a number of metallurgical patents and created a device that detected carbon monoxide in coal mines using a chemical reaction. Chance's paternal grandfather, Henry Martyn Chance, was a noted geologist and mining engineer who also had a medical degree. When he was a teenager, the family moved to

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Merio ...

. His family had a summer home in Mantoloking, New Jersey where he learned to sail on his father's yacht ''Antares''. He also sailed in

Antilles The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The Antillean islands are divided into two smaller groupings: the Greater An ...

and the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

. When he was 13 years old, he became a licensed as a radiotelegraph operator and built his first powerful radio transmitter. He graduated from the Haverford School in 1931. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he received a bachelor's degree in physical chemistry in 1935, and a M.A. in microbiology in 1936. While at Penn, he was a member of

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...

and of the professional and scientific honorary societies Alpha Chi Sigma, Sigma Tau, and

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

. He was also the business manager of ''The Pennsylvania Triangle,'' the engineering, architecture, and science student magazine. As a graduate student he developed a microflow version of a stopped-flow apparatus. Around the time he was 17, he invented an auto-steering device for ships, receiving a patent in 1937. He tested the device on a trip to the West Indies using his father's yacht in 1935. In March 1938, the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

hired him to test the auto-steering device on a round trip from England to Australia on the ''MS New Zealand Star,'' a 20,000-ton refrigerator ship. In return, the company paid his tuition to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In 1938, Chance enrolled in Cambridge University. He came back to the United States to visit his parents but was unable to return to Cambridge and England because of World War II. He returned to the University of Pennsylvania and received a Ph.D degree in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

in 1940. In 1943, he received a second Ph.D. from Cambridge University in biology and physiology, followed by a D.Sc. from Cambridge in 1952.

Career

In 1941, Chance became an assistant professor of biophysics and physical biochemistry in the school of medicine at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he worked for the Radiation Laboratory at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

which was working on the development of radar. He became a member of the Steering Committee and head of the Precision Circuits Section, supervising some 300 physicists. They developed radar technology that allowed blimps to spot German submarines, as well as a "ground position indicator" to allow more accurate bombing. He also developed analog electronic computers to calculate non-linear processes and helped develop

ENIAC ENIAC (; Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first Computer programming, programmable, Electronics, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, completed in 1945. Other computers had some of these features, but ENIAC was ...

, of the world's first general-purpose computer. After World War II, he received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

that allowed him to work in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

for two years with scientist

Hugo Theorell Axel Hugo Theodor Theorell (6 July 1903 – 15 August 1982) was a Swedish scientist and Nobel Prize laureate in medicine. He was born in Linköping as the son of Thure Theorell and his wife Armida Bill. Theorell went to Secondary School at Ka ...

at the Nobel Institute. Their work resulted in seven papers in the ''

Journal of Biological Chemistry The ''Journal of Biological Chemistry'' (''JBC'') is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1905., jbc.org Since 1925, it is published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It covers research i ...

''. It also let to Theorell winning the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

in 1955. In 1949, he became a professor of biophysics at the

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine The Perelman School of Medicine (commonly known as Penn Med) is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a Private university, private, Ivy League research university located in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of M ...

and was appointed the second director of the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation for Research in Medical Physics, a position he held until 1983. He was then appointed E. R. Johnson Professor of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (later renamed as Biochemistry and Biophysics) in 1964 and university professor in 1977. Early in his career, Chance worked on enzyme structure and function, developing methods to study the pre-steady-state phase of reactions. He invented the now standard stopped-flow device to measure the existence of the enzyme-substrate complex in enzyme reaction. He is considered the founder of biomedical photonics, which is now a research field covering biology, medicine, and physics. Starting in the late 1980s, he developed various

near-infrared spectroscopy Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (from 780 nm to 2500 nm). Typical applications include medical and physiological diagnostics and research inc ...

and photon diffusion imaging methods. He was also a pioneer in the numerical simulations of biochemical reactions and

metabolic pathways In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell. The reactants, products, and intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are modified by a sequence of chemical ...

. In the 2000s, he developed molecular imaging beacons for cancer detection and diagnosis, predicting cancer aggressiveness in muscles, breast tissue, and the brain. Chance became an emeritus professor at the

in 1983. He became the president of the Medical Diagnostic Research Foundation in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1995. He was visiting distinguished chair professor at

National Cheng Kung University National Cheng Kung University (NCKU; ) is a Public university, public research university located in the East District, Tainan, East District of Tainan, Taiwan. Founded in 1931 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as an engineering ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, from 2009 to 2010.

Publications

Chance published about 392 articles with 28947 citations (''h'' = 92) as of 19 May 2022. The following is a selection of his key papers: * Chance, B. and Theorell, H. "Studies on liver alcohol dehydrogenase 2. The kinetics of the compound of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase and reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide." '' Acta Chemica Scandinavica.'' 5 (7–8): 1127—1144 (1951) * Chance, B. and Williams, G. R. "Respiratory enzymes in oxidative phosphorylation. I. Kinetics of oxygen utilization." ''

.'' 217 (1) 383–393 (1955) * Chance, B. and Williams, G.R. "The respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation." ''Advances in Enzymology and Related Subjects of Biochemistry.'' 17: 65–134 (1956) * Chance, B; Ito, T. and Nishimura, M. "Studies on bacterial photophosphorylation 3. A sensitive and rapid method of determination of photophosphorylation." ''

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta ''Biochimica et Biophysica Acta'' (''BBA'') is a peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of biochemistry and biophysics that was established in 1947. The journal is published by Elsevier with a total of 100 annual issues in ten ...

.'' 59 (1): 177–182 (1962) * Chance, B. "Energy-linked reaction of calcium with mitochondria." ''

.'' 240 (6): 27292728 (1965) * Chance, B., Boveris, A. "Mitochondrial generation of hydrogen-peroxide – General properties and effect of hyperbaric-oxygen." ''

Biochemical Journal The ''Biochemical Journal'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology. It is published by Portland Press and was established in 1906. History The journal was established ...

.'' 134 (3): 707–716 (1973) * Chance, B.; Sies, H. and Boveris, A. "Hydroperoxide metabolism in mammalian organs." ''

Physiological Reviews ''Physiological Reviews'' is a journal published quarterly by the American Physiological Society which has been published since 1921. The editor in chief of the journal is Sadis Matalon (University of Alabama at Birmingham). The journal's first ...

.'' 59 (3): 527–605 (1979) * Chance, B. and Yodh, A. "Spectroscopy and imaging with diffusing light." ''

Physics Today ''Physics Today'' is the membership magazine of the American Institute of Physics. First published in May 1948, it is issued on a monthly schedule, and is provided to the members of ten physics societies, including the American Physical Society. ...

.'' 48 (3): 34–40 (1995)

Professional affiliations

Chance was elected to the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

in 1950. He became a resident member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1958, and served on President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

's Science Advisory Committee from 1959 to 1960. He was elected as a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

in Medical Sciences in 1968, the Wistar Institute in 1969, the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

in 1971, the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1981, and The International Society for Optical Engineering in 2007. He also became a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

in 2007, and a Fellow in Institute for Corean-American Studies. He was a Harvey Lecturer at the

New York Academy of Medicine The New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy) is a health policy and advocacy organization founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health r ...

in 1954, a Phillips Lecturer at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1956 and 1965, and a Pepper Lecturer at the

in 1957. In 1986, he gave the keynote address at the 152nd national meeting of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. He was a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, the

Institute of Radio Engineers The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) was a professional organization which existed from 1912 until December 31, 1962. On January 1, 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) to form the Institute of Electrical ...

, and the Society of Biological Chemists. He cofounded the Biophysical Society and the ''Journal of Innovative Optical Health Sciences''. He was also vice president of the

, chairman of the

, president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics, president of the International Society of Oxygen Transport to Tissue, president for the Society for Free Radical Research International, and a board member of the International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study.

Awards

* President's Certificate of Merit, 1950 * Paul-Lewis Award in Enzyme Chemistry, Division of Biological Chemistry of the

, 1950 * Morlock Award, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, 1961 * Genootschapps Medaille, Dutch Biochemical Society,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, 1965 * Harrison Howe Award, Rochester Section,

, 1966 *

Franklin Medal The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country ...

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

, 1966 *

John Price Wetherill Medal The John Price Wetherill Medal was an award of the Franklin Institute. It was established with a bequest given by the family of John Price Wetherill (1844–1906) on April 3, 1917. On June 10, 1925, the Board of Managers voted to create a silv ...

, 1966 * Award for Excellence (Life Sciences),

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, 1968 * Philadelphia Section Award,

, 1969 * Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, Netherlands Academy of Science and Letters,1970 * Nichols Award, New York Section,

, 1970 *

Canada Gairdner International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a ...

, Gairdner Foundation,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

,1972 *

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

,1974 * Semmelweis Medal,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, 1974 * Award for Significant Contributions; Field of Biochemical Instruments, ISCO,1976 * Kappa Delta Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award,

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is an orthopedic organization. Founded at Northwestern University in 1933, as of 2015 AAOS had grown to include about 39,000 members.AAOMembersPage accessed June 27, 2015 The group provides ed ...

, 1986 * Senior Investigator Award,

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

, 1986 * Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to Medicine,

College of Physicians A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school ...

, 1987 * Max Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics,

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

, 1987 * Gold Medal, International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 1988 * J. Henry Wilkinson Award, International Society for Clinical Enzymology, 1989 * Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences,

, 1990 * Christopher Columbus Discovery Award in Biomedical Research,

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, 1992 *

John Scott Award John Scott Award, created in 1816 as the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, is presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way. "...the John Scott Medal Fund, establish ...

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 1992 * Honor Award, American College of Sports Medicine, 1999 * Liberty Award, Institute for Corean-American Studies, 2005 * Lifetime Achievement Award, International Society for Optical Engineering, 2005 * Gold Medal, American Roentgen Ray Society, 2006 * Distinguished Achievement Award,

American Aging Association The American Aging Association is a non-profit, tax-exempt biogerontology organization of scientists and laypeople dedicated to biomedical aging studies and geroscience, with the goal of slowing the aging process to extend the healthy human li ...

, 2006 * Friendship Award,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 2008 * Molecular Imaging Achievement Award, Society for Molecular Imaging, 2008 * International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, 2009

Honors

* The Stellar-Chance Laboratories at the

were named after him in 1995. * He received honorary MDs from

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally ...

in 1962,

University of Düsseldorf A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1991,

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

in 1993,

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

in 1995, and University of Rome Tor Vergata in 1997. * He received honorary D.Sc. degrees Medical College of Ohio in 1974,

Semmelweis University Semmelweis University (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Semmelweis Egyetem'', ) is a research-led medical school in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 1769. With six faculties and a doctoral school it covers all aspects of medical and health sciences. ...

in 1976, Hahnemann Medical College in 1977,

in 2008,

in 1985, and

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

in 1990. * The International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue established The Britton Chance Award in honor of his long-standing commitment, interest, and contributions to the science and engineering aspects of oxygen transport to tissue and to the society. * SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering established Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award, presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of biomedical optics. * He was an honorary president of the International Society of Oxygen Transport to Tissue.

Sailing and Olympics

Chance won many sailing championships through the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association from the late 1930s to the 1950s, including coming in first place for Class E Sloops in the first-ever Barnegat Bay Regatta in 1938. In the 1950s and 1960s, he competed in the United States Olympic sailing trials and also chaired the national governing body of sailing. In March 1952, he won the Giovannelli Cup with his sailboat ''Complex'' in a regatta off of Lido Dabaro, Italy. For the

, 5.5-meter class was a new category. Chance earned a spot on the United States Olympic team for the 5.5-meter class because he was the only entry in the trials; he had a 5.5-meter craft, ''Complex II,'' custom built as soon as the new Olympic category was announced. His crew consisted of friends and former crewmates from the Mantoloking Yacht Club—teenager Michael Schoettle and twins Edgar White and Sumner White. In July 1952 in

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki () is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipality, with million in the capital region and ...

, the US team won an Olympic gold medal in the 5.5 Metre Class, with Chance serving as helmsman and captain of the ''Complex II''. They won three of seven races in the competition, but only won the gold because, in the seventh race, Chance blocked Norway's Peder Lunde's wind, putting him out of contention. In 1955, he was elected treasurer of the United States Olympians, the organization of former Olympic athletes. In 1956, he came in first place in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, winning the Edward Prince of Wales Trophy. In 1961, his team won the 5.5 Meter Class in the international Baltic Regatta sponsored by the U.S.S.R. He also won the 5.5 Metre Class World Championship in 1962 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, sailing ''Complex III'' "with superb helmsmanship and clever sailing tactics" Chance was inducted into the Barnegat Bay Sailing Hall of Fame in 2004. In an interview he said, "I wouldn't be without sailing. That would be unendurable for me."

Personal

Chance married seventeen-year-old Jane Earle on March 4, 1938. The two spent their three-month-long honeymoon on a ship bound for Australia, testing one of his inventions for British General Electric Co. Before divorcing, they had four children: Eleanor Chance, Britton Chance Jr., Jan Chance, and Peter Chance. His daughter Jan Change O'Malley was named

US Sailor of the Year US or Us most often refers to: * ''Us'' (pronoun), the objective case of the English first-person plural pronoun ''we'' * US, an abbreviation for the United States US, U.S., Us, us, or u.s. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Albums * ...

(now called US Sailing's Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year) in 1969, 1970, and 1977 by

US Sailing The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing) is the national governing body for sailing in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offe ...

. His son Britton was a naval architect who designed sailboats for the Olympics and the

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

. He married Lilian Streeter Lucas in November 1956. They had 4 children: Margaret Chance, Lilian Chance, Benjamin Chance, and Samuel Chance. However, they also divorced. In February 2010, he married his research associate and biochemist, Shoko Nioka, Ph.D. in Taiwan in a traditional Chinese ceremony. At the age of 97, Chance died in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in November 2010.

References

External links

100 Greatest Discoveries – Biology

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chance, Britton 1913 births 2010 deaths People from Mantoloking, New Jersey Alumni of the University of Cambridge American biochemists American biophysicists Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge Foreign members of the Royal Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences National Medal of Science laureates University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Pennsylvania Department of Biology faculty American physical chemists Haverford School alumni Winners of the Heineken Prize Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina Olympic gold medalists for the United States in sailing American male sailors (sport) Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Sailors at the 1952 Summer Olympics – 5.5 Metre Members of the National Academy of Medicine Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Recipients of Franklin Medal 20th-century American sportsmen Members of the American Philosophical Society