Erik Waaler (22 February 1903 – 3 March 1997) was a Norwegian professor of medicine. He was born in

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

as a son of physician Per Waaler (1866–1923) and musician Fredrikke Amalie Holtemann Rynning (1865–1952). He was a brother of

Georg Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 * Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) George is a surname of Irish, English, Welsh, South Indian Christian, Middle Eastern Christian (usually Lebanese), French, o ...

and

Rolf Waaler Rolf Waaler (15 February 1898 - 10 July 2000) was a Norwegian organizational psychologist. He served as the third rector of the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) from 1958-1963. His mother was composer Fredrikke Waaler. He was educated at the No ...

and uncle of

Bjarne Waaler Bjarne is a Nordic male name, a variant of Bjorn, and can refer to the following people: *Bjarne Andersson, a cross-country skier *Bjarne Berg-Sæther, a Norwegian politician *Bjarne Berntsen, a Norwegian football coach and former player *Bjarn ...

. In November 1929 he married Esther Fasmer Dahl (1905–1994), a daughter of priest and composer

Alf Fasmer Dahl Alf Fasmer Dahl (20 May 1874 – 21 June 1933) was a Norwegian priest and composer. He was born in Trondhjem as a son of vicar and composer Jonas Dahl (1849–1919) and Julie Marie Fasmer (1847–1925). In 1900 he married banker's daughter Aagot El ...

and sister of

Titt Fasmer Dahl Titt is a surname. People with the surname Titt include: *George Frank Titt, Lord Mayor of Manchester 1930-31 *John Wallis Titt (1841-1910), engineer and windmill manufacturer * William Titt (1881-1956), Olympic swimmer See also *Tit (disambiguatio ...

. He finished his secondary education in Hamar in 1921, studied at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

and graduated in 1927 with the

candidate of medicine Candidate of Medicine ( la, candidatus medicinae (male), ''candidata medicinae'' (female), abbreviated cand. med.) is an academic degree awarded in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway following a six-year medical school education. Medical students in G ...

degree. He served at the hospitals in

and

Ullevål Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of F ...

before working as a physician in Hamar from 1929 to 1930. After serving as an assistant physician in Oslo he took the doctor medicinae degree in 1935 with the doctoral thesis ''Studies on the Dissociation of the Dysentery Bacilli''. He was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the

from 1936 to 1938, staying at the Department of Pathology,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in the first year. From 1938 to 1940 he was a

prosector A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and ...

Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet is one of the four main campuses of Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway. It was an independent hospital, ''Rigshospitalet'', later spelled ''Rikshospitalet'' ("The National Hospital"), from 1826 to 200 ...

. In 1939 he discovered the

rheumatoid factor Rheumatoid factor (RF) is the autoantibody that was first found in rheumatoid arthritis. It is defined as an antibody against the Fc portion of IgG and different RFs can recognize different parts of the IgG-Fc. RF and IgG join to form immune co ...

. He was hired at the Gade Institute in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

in 1941, and later served as a professor of

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...

from 1948 to his retirement in 1971. He served as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Faculty of Medicine from 1948 to 1951 and

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

from 1954 to 1960. He also co-founded the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, ...

. He was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...

from 1947 and the Selskapet til Vitenskapenes Fremme from 1952. He was decorated as a Knight First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

in 1959 and promoted to Commander in 1973. He was an honorary member of the

Norwegian Rheumatism Association Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, the American Rheumatism Association from 1962, the

Finnish Medical Society Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See al ...

from 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waaler, Erik 1903 births 1997 deaths People from Hamar Norwegian pathologists University of Oslo alumni Oslo University Hospital people Academic staff of the University of Bergen Rectors of the University of Bergen Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Medical history The medical history, case history, or anamnesis (from Greek: ἀνά, ''aná'', "open", and μνήσις, ''mnesis'', "memory") of a patient is information gained by a physician by asking specific questions, either to the patient or to other pe ...

Rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...