Merle Lawrence ( in

Remsen, New York Remsen is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,929 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Henry Remsen, an early settler. The Town of Remsen contains a village also named Remsen. The town is north of the c ...

– January 29, 2007, in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

) was an American physiologist who contributed extensively to the field of

otolaryngology Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...

Biography

Lawrence received his PhD in 1941 at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

under the supervision of Dr.

E. Glen Wever Ernest Glen Wever (October 16, 1902–September 4, 1991) was an American Experimental psychology, experimental psychologist known for his elucidation of hearing in vertebrates, ranging from the biomechanical functioning of the cochlea to the neural ...

where the work on vertebrate hearing by Dr Wever inspired Dr Lawrence to undertake the research as a lifelong study. The

National Research Council National Research Council may refer to: * National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development * National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome * National Research Council (United States), part of ...

offered him a fellowship that led to a postdoctoral post with Dr. Stacy Guild at the Otolaryngology Department at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

. Lawrence served as a Naval aviator of the

US Naval reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

during World War II and was deployed to the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. He contributed to assignments at the

School of Aviation Medicine The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) is the United States Air Force (USAF) organization focused on education, research, and operational consultation in aerospace and operational medicine. USAFSAM was founded in 1918 t ...

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principa ...

, and at the

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) is an agency of the United States Department of the Navy that manages health care activities for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. BUMED operates hospitals and other health care ...

in Washington, D.C. He held a brief position as a trainer of helicopter piloting during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

. In 1946, Lawrence became an assistant professor at Princeton University and collaborated with Dr Wever in research. He was appointed as an associate researcher at the Lempert Institute of Otology in New York City from 1946 to 1952. Lawrence joined the Otolaryngology Department at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1952 invited by Dr. Furstenberg, chair of the Otolaryngology Department and dean of the medical school. He founded the

Kresge Hearing Research Institute The Kresge Hearing Research Institute is an institute of Otolaryngology of the Department of Otolaryngology in the University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or ...

in 1963. Under his leadership the institute became one of the largest and most influential centers for research on hearing worldwide. As its first director until retirement in 1983, Lawrence conducted research on inner physiology

External links

Merle Lawrence
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Merle 1915 births 2007 deaths People from Remsen, New York Princeton University alumni University of Michigan faculty Johns Hopkins University fellows