Frederic Schiller Lee (1859-1939) was an American
physiologist who spent most of his research career at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
's College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Early life and education
Lee was born on June 16, 1859, in
Canton, New York
Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, St. Lawrence County, New York (state), New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administr ...
, one of five children born to Reverend
John Stebbins Lee and his wife Elmina. The elder Lee served as the first president of
St. Lawrence University, from which Frederic received his bachelor's degree in 1878. (Frederic's brother, John Clarence, would go on to serve as the university's fifth president.)
Frederic Lee received his Ph.D. from
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 consi ...
in 1885 under the supervision of
H. Newell Martin.
Academic career
After finishing his Ph.D., Lee traveled to Germany to work in the laboratory of distinguished physiology researcher
Carl Ludwig
Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (; 29 December 1816 – 23 April 1895) was a German physician and physiologist. His work as both a researcher and teacher had a major influence on the understanding, methods and apparatus used in almost all branches ...
in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
for a year, where he developed an interest in the physiological mechanisms of
fatigue and in
.
He then returned to the United States, spent a year as an instructor of biology at St. Lawrence, and then moved to an instructorship in
histology
Histology,
also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...
and physiology at
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...
.
Lee was elected to the
American Physiological Society
The American Physiological Society is a non-profit professional society for physiologists. It has nearly 10,000 members, most of whom hold doctoral degrees in medicine, physiology or other health professions. Its mission is to support research an ...
at the first APS meeting in 1888.
Lee began his career at Columbia in 1891 as a demonstrator for
John Green Curtis
John Green Curtis (October 29, 1844 – September 21, 1913) was an American physiologist who spent most of his career at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Curtis was one of the founding members of the American Physiolo ...
, tasked with developing a new, practical laboratory course in physiology. Lee became an adjunct professor at Columbia in 1895, a professor in the physiology department in 1904, and the Dalton Professor of Physiology in 1904. He served as the physiology department's executive officer from 1911 to 1920.
Lee retired from Columbia, assuming
professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
status, in 1938.
Throughout his career, Lee was deeply involved in the American Physiological Society, serving as its 7th president from 1917-18, accumulating seventeen years as a member of its council, and serving shorter periods in various other administrative roles.
Lee was noted for his interest in applying physiology research to war-related work during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
;
he held the role of consulting physiologist for the
United States Public Health Service
The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...
from 1917 to 1919 and of senior physiologist from 1919 to 1924. During the war, he oversaw studies of the physiology of worker
fatigue (which led to recruiting a young
Albert Baird Hastings to Columbia),
and published this work in the book ''The Human Machine and Industrial Efficiency'' in 1919.
Personal life
Lee spent many years engaged with the governance of the
New York Botanical Gardens, serving 24 years on its board of managers, two years as its vice president, and four years as its president,
starting his term in 1923.
He was also a trustee of the
Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
and served as a member of the board of directors of an Arizona sanitorium.
Lee died on December 14, 1939, following a long illness.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Frederic Schiller
American physiologists
Columbia University faculty
1859 births
1939 deaths