Lawrence W. Stark (February 21, 1926 – October 22, 2004) was an American

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

and a recognized authority in the use of engineering analysis to characterize neurological systems. He was a longtime professor of physiological optics and engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Stark was born to a Jewish family in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His father Edward Stark was a chemical engineer trained at

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 ...

, and Lawrence credited his early interest in engineering to him.UC Berkeley Department of Mechanical Engineering obituary, November 1, 2004

Career

Stark graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1945 with majors in English, biology, and zoology. He received his M.D. in 1948 from

Albany Medical College Albany Medical College (AMC) is a Private university, private medical school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1839 by Alden March and James H. Armsby and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation. The college is part of the Albany Me ...

. He worked at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

and as a doctor in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. From 1960 to 1965, he was head of the neurology section in the Center for Communication Sciences at MIT. In 1965, he became chairman of the biomedical engineering department at the

University of Illinois-Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. In 1968, he went to UC-Berkeley, where he remained until his retirement in 1994. An occasional conference on Vision and Movement in Man and Machine is held, and they are nicknamed Starkfest, according to conference organizer John Semmlow of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, who was one of Stark's students at both UIC and Berkeley. Stark was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

in 1968.

Scientific contributions

Dr. Stark was best known for his research on the control of eye movements. He pioneered the application of

Control Theory Control theory is a field of control engineering and applied mathematics that deals with the control system, control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the applic ...

to neurological systems with his study in the 1950s and 1960s of the

pupillary light reflex The pupillary light reflex (PLR) or photopupillary reflex is a reflex that controls the diameter of the pupil, in response to the intensity ( luminance) of light that falls on the retinal ganglion cells of the retina in the back of the eye, t ...

. He later studied the

saccade In vision science, a saccade ( ; ; ) is a quick, simultaneous movement of both Eye movement (sensory), eyes between two or more phases of focal points in the same direction. In contrast, in Smooth pursuit, smooth-pursuit movements, the eyes mov ...

(fast discrete changes of gaze) and the accommodation of the eye's focus. He trained many Ph.D. students, primarily in the fields of

bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

and physiological optics (better known as

visual neuroscience Visual neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience that focuses on the visual system of the human body, mainly located in the brain's visual cortex. The main goal of visual neuroscience is to understand how neural activity results in visual percepti ...

Personal life

Stark was the brother of civil rights activist Matthew Stark. Stark was married and divorced twice and had three daughters. He died in Berkeley in 2004 and is buried in

Dutch Flat, California Dutch Flat (also, Dutchman's Flat, Dutch Charlie's Flat, and Charley's Flat) is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Placer County, California, United States, about northeast of Auburn along Interstate 80. It w ...

External links

Lawrence Stark, Lawrence Stark, professor emeritus of physiological optics and engineering, dies at 78 (UC Berkelej News)Video and transcripts of an interview with Stark"The Arts and Sciences of Lawrence Stark," ''Computers in Biology and Medicine'' 37: 898–902 (2002).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Lawrence 1926 births 2004 deaths American neurologists Jewish American scientists University of Illinois Chicago faculty University of California, Berkeley faculty 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews