| 1 | Name: | Dr. Britton Chance | |
| Institution: | University of Pennsylvania | ||
| Year Elected: | 1958 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1913 | ||
| Death Date: | November 16, 2010 | ||
Britton Chance had been Eldridge Reeves Johnson University Professor Emeritus of Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine since 1983. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pennyslvania in 1940 and was affiliated with the university for over 65 years, primarily in its biophysics and biochemistry departments. During the war years he led advances in radar and automatic ship steering and later designed experiments which demonstrated a mastery of cellular physiology. Using revolutionary methods he also made fundamental discoveries in the complex interrelations of substrate-enzyme systems. Dr. Chance's recent research interests included the study of the basic theory of photon migration through tissues; the use of picosecond pulsed and high frequency modulation of near infrared (NIR) light in human brain, breast and muscle, to characterize tissue optical properties; the use of imaging systems to detect breast tumors and hemorrhage deep within tissues; and human brain function in cognitive activity. Dr. Chance was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1954) and American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1955) and has over 1,300 original scientific publications to his credit. In 1990 Dr. Chance was presented with the American Philosophical Society's Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences. The citation described Dr. Chance as "a monumental figure in biology and the medical sciences, whose unequalled productivity and energy have advanced, for more than half a century, the frontiers of basic research and clinical medicine." Britton Chance died November 16, 2010, at age 97, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | |||