Rustem Igor Gamow (November 4, 1935 – April 15, 2021) was a

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

professor at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. His best known inventions included the

Gamow bag A portable hyperbaric bag, of which one brand is the Gamow () bag, is an inflatable pressure bag large enough to accommodate a person. The patient can be placed inside the bag, which is then sealed and inflated with a foot pump. Within minutes, th ...

and the Shallow Underwater Breathing Apparatus. He was fired from CU in 2004 following sexual harassment and assault charges.

Early life and education

Gamow was born in the Georgetown section of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, the son of physicists

George Gamow George Gamow (sometimes Gammoff; born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov; ; 4 March 1904 – 19 August 1968) was a Soviet and American polymath, theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He was an early advocate and developer of Georges Lemaître's Big Ba ...

and Lyubov Vokhmintseva "Rho" Gamow, both emigrants from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He finished high school at age 17, and then joined the National Ballet Company. He worked

breaking horses Horse training refers to a variety of practices that teach horses to perform certain behaviors when commanded to do so by humans. Horses are trained to be manageable by humans for everyday care as well as for equestrian activities, ranging anywh ...

, delivering packages by motorcycle, and teaching

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

before enrolling at the

in 1958, where his father taught. Igor Gamow received a B.A. and M.S. in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, and a Ph.D. in

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

, all at University of Colorado.

Career

Gamow worked on

Phycomyces blakesleeanus ''Phycomyces blakesleeanus'' is a filamentous fungus in the Order Mucorales of the phylum Zygomycota or subphylum Mucoromycotina. The spore-bearing sporangiophores of ''Phycomyces'' are very sensitive to different environmental signals including ...

during

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

under

Max Delbrück Max Ludwig Henning Delbrück (; September 4, 1906 – March 9, 1981) was a German–American biophysicist who participated in launching the molecular biology research program in the late 1930s. He stimulated physical science, physical scientist ...

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

. At CU-Boulder, he did ''

Phycomyces ''Phycomyces'' is a genus of fungus in the Mucoromycota phylum. They are known for their strong phototropism response and helical growth of the sporangium. The best studied species is '' Phycomyces blakesleeanus''. Asexual reproduction ''Phyco ...

'' research for over twenty years, mainly on the avoidance and anemotropic responses, helical growth, and cell-wall mechanical properties. He also studied the infrared-detectors of the

Boa constrictor The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also known as the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the Family (b ...

. An avid outdoorsman, Gamow developed a number of inventions for safety in outdoor activities. His first important one, patented in 1990, was the

enabling mountain climbers to avoid

altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People's bodies can respond to high altitude in different wa ...

by raising the surrounding pressure.

Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached th ...

, the first expedition leader to summit

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

, wrote him in congratulation. Another was the Shallow Underwater Breathing Apparatus ("SUBA"), a pressurized snorkel system permitting swimmers to breathe easily as deep as ten feet under water. Gamow also worked in

bionics Bionics or biologically inspired engineering is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. The word ''bionic'', coined by Jack E. Steele in August 195 ...

, on an

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

knee brace that stores energy within a spring from the

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

and redirects it to the

quadriceps The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

Patents

* — Hyperbaric chamber * — Hyperbaric chamber * — Underwater breathing apparatus * — Hyperbaric chamber closure means * — Shoe and foot prosthesis with a coupled spring system * — Hyperbaric chamber and exercise environment * — Hypobaric sleeping chamber * — In-line skate walking guard * — Shoe and foot prosthesis with bending beam spring structures * — Underwater breathing apparatus with pressurized snorkel * — Shoe and foot prosthesis with bending beam spring structures

University of Colorado termination

In 2002, a former assistant of Gamow, filed a lawsuit against the

in which it alleged sexual harassment and sexual assault of seven women. After the lawsuit was filed, the university began to take steps to terminate Gamow. In 2004, the CU Board of Regents unanimously upheld the recommendation to dismiss Gamow for "moral turpitude". Gamow filed a lawsuit against CU in an attempt to be reinstated. In May 2006, the university lost a lawsuit that had been filed by Gamow's former assistant and was ordered to pay her $285,000 plus attorney's fees. In September 2011, Gamow released an open letter addressing some misconceptions about events leading to his termination from the University of Colorado.https://web.archive.org/web/20120402183401/http://gamow.com/igorweb/Camera_2011.pdf

References

External links

Gamow's personal homepage
August 23, 2003

August 18, 2006
Fear and Groping In Boulder
''Denver Westworld'' June 1996 article, this article contains three sexual harassment stories, scan down to the heading 'Freshman Disorientation' for the one referencing Igor Gamow
Isn't It Romantic
''Denver Westworld'' July 1996 article, documents an accusation of sexual harassment that was not upheld by university review despite finding the accuser 'credible' and recommending that Igor Gamow take four hours of sexual-harassment training
The Smutty Professor
''Denver Westword'' May 2006 article on Gamow's problem with sexual harassment that resulted in his dismissal from the University of Colorado
Open Letter to the Editor of the Boulder Daily Camera
Igor Gamow, January 2007
Obituary - 2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamow, Igor 1935 births 2021 deaths American chemical engineers University of Colorado Boulder faculty Inventors from Colorado People from Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)