Viktor Hamburger

Viktor Hamburger
Born	July 9, 1900 Landeshut, Silesia
Died	June 12, 2001 (aged 100) St. Louis, Missouri
Nationality	German
Fields	Embryology
Institutions	Washington University in St. Louis
Alma mater	University of Freiburg
Doctoral advisor	Hans Spemann
Known for	Nerve growth factor

Viktor Hamburger (July 9, 1900 – June 12, 2001)^[1] was a German professor and embryologist. In 1951 he co-authored the Hamburger-Hamilton stages. Hamburger lectured, among others, Nobel Prize-winning neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini,^[2] who identified nerve growth factor along with Hamburger when they collaborated. Hamburger began to work at Washington University in St. Louis in 1935; he retired from his professor position in 1969 and continued researching until the 1980s.^[3]

Early life

Hamburger was born on July 9, 1900 in Landeshut, Silesia, Germany to Max Hamburger and Else Gradenwitz.^[4]

Career

In the 1960s, Hamburger did embryological work that established that chick movements in embryo were spontaneous patterns, a finding that contradicted contemporary assertions of behavioral psychologists.^[3][5]

Hamburger later revisited nerve growth factor, demonstrating that it was required for the maintenance of neural cells.^[6]

Selected Awards

• 1953 - Inducted into National Academy of Sciences
• 1976 - Honorary doctorate, Washington University in St. Louis
• 1978 - Wakeman Award for Research in the Neurosciences
• 1981 - Ross Harrison Prize from the International Society of Developmental Biologists, shared with Donald Brown
• 1983 - Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia University with Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini
• 1984 - Honorary doctorate, Uppsala University
• 1985 - Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience from the Society for Neuroscience
• 1989 - National Medal of Science
• 1990 - Karl Spencer Lashley Award of the American Philosophical Society
• 2000 - Lifetime Achievement Award, Society for Developmental Biology

References

Notes

1. Noden, Drew M. "Viktor Hamburger (1900-2001)". Society for Developmental Biology. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
2. Cowan, W. M. (2001). "Viktor Hamburger Andrita Levi-Montalcini: The Path to the Discovery of Nerve Growth Factor". Annual Review of Neuroscience 24: 551–600. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.551. PMID 11283321.
3. Freeman, Karen (2001-06-14). "Viktor Hamburger, 100, Dies; Embryologist Revealed Architecture of Nervous System". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
4. Hamburger, Viktor (1996). "Viktor Hamburger". In Squire, Larry R. The history of neuroscience in autobiography. Washington DC: Society for Neuroscience. p. 223. ISBN 0-916110-51-6. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
5. Hamburger, V.; Wenger, E.; Oppenheim, R. (1966). "Motility in the chick embryo in the absence of sensory input". Journal of Experimental Zoology 162 (2): 133. doi:10.1002/jez.1401620202.
6. Navis, Adam R. (2012-05-08). "Viktor Hamburger". Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, Center for Biology and Society. Retrieved 2013-05-26.

Bibliography

• Allen, Garland. "Viktor Hamburger, 1900-2001; a biographical memoir." (PDF). Biographical Memoirs. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 18 December 2015.

• Hamburger, Viktor (1996). "Viktor Hamburger". In Squire, Larry R. The history of neuroscience in autobiography. Washington DC: Society for Neuroscience. pp. 222‒250. ISBN 0-916110-51-6. Retrieved 2013-05-26.

External links

• The Viktor Hamburger Lecture
• Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize
• Viktor Hamburger Virtual Exhibit