Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics Note
The scientific career of Elmer Louis Severinghaus may be divided into three main phases: 1921-1945, as professor of physiological chemistry and professor of clinical medicine at the University of Wisconsin; 1945-1958, as director of research at Hoffmann-La Roche; and 1958-1965, as professor of public health and nutrition and associate director of the Institute of Nutrition Sciences at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. The third phase included extensive travel to developing countries as a teacher and consultant for international projects in nutrition. After retiring, Severinghaus was chief nutritional consultant to the Church World Service. The Severinghaus Papers cover the first phase of his career: his research program in metabolism, endocrinology, and insulin physiology at the University of Wisconsin. Although the collection is small and limited to letters written to Severinghaus, it is a helpful source on the growth of biochemistry and nutrition in an institutional context where agricultural and medical research intersected -- biochemistry, nutrition, and physiology at the University of Wisconsin developed in close cooperation with the region's food and drug industries, and the papers contain interesting correspondence on issues related to industrial research, contracts, and patents.
Author
Format
Date
Language
Bradley, Harold C. (On physiological chemistry at the University of Wisconsin.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1920
English
Cannon, Walter B. (Walter Bradford), 1871-1945
Correspondence (1 item)
1936
English
Carpenter, Thorne M. (Thorne Martin), b. 1878 (Scientific correspondence.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1927
English
Carrel, Alexis, 1873-1944 (Scientific correspondence.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1935
English
Chen, K. K. (Ko Kuei), b. 1898 (On Union Medical College in Peking.)
Correspondence (2 items)
1923-1924
English
Corner, George Washington, 1889-1981
Correspondence (2 items)
1940
English
De Kruif, Paul, 1890-1971
Correspondence (1 item)
1944
English
Drinker, Cecil Kent, 1887-1956 (Scientific and administrative correspondence.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1929
English
Harrop, George Argale, 1890-1945 (On setting up pharmaceutical research at Squibb.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1937
English
Hoskins, R. G. (Roy Graham), b. 1880 (On policies of the Association for the Study of Internal Secretions [Endocrine Society].)
Correspondence (1 item)
1934
English
Hume, Edward H. (Edward Hicks), 1876-1957 (On teaching and research opportunities in biochemistry in China.)
Correspondence (2 items)
1921
English
Kinsey, Alfred C. (Alfred Charles), 1894-1956 (On establishing sex and behavior research at Indiana University.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1946
English
Klumpp, Theodore G., 1903-1997 (On scientists as experts on policies of the Food and Drug Administration.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1939
English
Leake, Chauncey Depew, 1896-1978 (On aspects of cooperative research and Severinghaus' goals at Hoffmann-La Roche.)
Correspondence (3 items)
1944-1946
English
Nelson, Elmer Martin, 1892-1958 (On advisory activities for the Food and Drug Administration.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1942
English
Pottenger, Francis Marion, b. 1869 (Concerning the Association for the Study of Internal Secretions [Endocrine Society], of which Pottenger was the secretary.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1934
English
Richards, Alfred N. (Alfred Newton), 1876-1966 (On activities related to CMR (Committee on Medical Research).)
Correspondence (2 items)
1942, n.d.
English
Sebrell, W. H. (William Henry), 1901-1992 (On the policy of the U.S. Public Health Service of adding vitamin D to milk.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1943
English
Shorr, Ephraim (On the Symposium on Menopause.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1940
English
Slichter, Charles Sumner, 1864-1946 (On issues of patents surrounding the cooperation between the dairy industries and biochemical nutrition at the University of Wisconsin.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1930
English
Sure, Barnett, b. 1891 (On the relationship between nutrition, agriculture, and medicine.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1937
English
Talbot, Fritz B. (Bradley), 1878-1964 (On controversies surrounding patent rights.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1934
English
Weaver, Warren (On the relationship between endocrinology and behavior within the Rockefeller Foundation's program of physico-chemical biology.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1934
English
Wilder, Russell M. (Russell Morse), 1885-1959 (On insulin research.)
Correspondence (3 items)
1931-1939
English
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (On insulin research.)
Correspondence (2 items)
1932-1939
English
Yerkes, Robert Mearns, 1876-1956 (On research on endocrinology and behavior.)
Correspondence (1 item)
1934
English
Biographical/Historical note
Elmer Louis Severinghaus (1894-1980) was a biochemist who conducted clinical research in insulin therapy, treatment of goiter, and vitamin deficiency. Born in New Albany, Indiana, he was the son of a physician who practiced homeopathic medicine. He graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin, B.A. (1916) and M.A. (1918), degrees in chemistry. He went on to Harvard Medical School to earn his M.D. degree in 1921. Returning to Wisconsin in 1924, he became an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiological Chemistry. A time of rapid application of laboratory developments, Severinghaus conducted clinical study and application of insulin therapy, treatment of goiter, aspects of thyroid disease, and conditions of the endocrine glands.
President of the Association for the Study of Internal Secretions, 1939-1940, he represented the United States as first "Goodwill Ambassador" to Latin America attending the International Congress of Endocrinology at Montevideo, Uruguay. In 1946, Severinghaus began a second career as Director of Clinical Research at Hoffmann LaRoche and in 1958, started a third career as Associate Director of the Institute of Nutrition at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University of New York. For many years, he was associated with the Medical Board of the United Church Board of World Missions. Other interests include the editorship of Current Therapeutic Research. His most famous publications are Guide for Diabetes, Vitamin Therapy in General Practice, Endocrine Therapy in General Practice.