Norman Jefferis "Jeff" Holter (February 1, 1914 – July 21, 1983) was an American

biophysicist 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 ...

who invented the

Holter monitor In medicine, a Holter monitor (often simply Holter) is a type of ambulatory electrocardiography device, a portable device for cardiac monitoring (the monitoring of the electrical activity of the cardiovascular system) for at least 24 hours. ...

, a portable device for continuously monitoring the

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

activity of the heart for 24 hours or more. Holter donated the rights to his invention to medicine.

Early life and education

Holter was born February 1, 1914, in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

. He graduated from

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

in 1931 and then continued his studies at

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

, graduating from there with a master's degree in physics in 1937. He then graduated a year later from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

with a master's degree in chemistry. He continued his education by completing postgraduate work at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

(Germany), the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, the

Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of American universities headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with offices in Arvada, Colorado and Cincinnati, Ohio and staff at other locations across the country. History The organiza ...

, and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Medical School.

Career

During World War II, Holter served as senior physicist 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 ...

, studying the characteristics of waves. In 1946, he headed a government research team involved in the atomic-bomb testing at

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese language, Marshallese: , , ), known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 19th century and 1946, is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. The atoll is at the no ...

. After the war, he continued work with the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by the U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President Harry ...

, and served as president of the Society of Nuclear Medicine from 1955 to 1956. In 1964, he became a full professor at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, coordinating activities at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. In 1979, the

Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) is an organization for advancing the development, and safe and effective use of medical technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "applic ...

(AAMI) awarded Holter with the AAMI Foundation Laufman-Greatbatch Prize for his contributions to medical technology. Holter was the son and grandson, respectively, of Montana pioneers Norman B. Holter and Anton M. Holter. Anton M. Holter was born in his native

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and emigrated to the United States when he was 23. Numerous landmarks in and around Helena, Montana bear his family's name. These landmarks include The Holter Museum of Art, Holter Dam, and Holter Lake. The Holter Art Museum is widely recognized as the premiere modern western art museum in the United States and attracts the talents and attention of international crowds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holter, Norman 1914 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American physicists People from Helena, Montana 20th-century American biologists Inventors from Montana 20th-century American inventors