John Green Curtis (October 29, 1844 – September 21, 1913) was an American
physiologist who spent most of his career at the
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 ...
College of Physicians and Surgeons. Curtis was one of the founding members of 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 ...
, and hosted its first meeting in his Columbia laboratory space.
Early life and education
Curtis was born on October 29, 1844, in
New York City, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He attended
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and received his bachelor's degree in 1866 and his master's degree in 1869. He received his M.D. in 1870 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, then a loose affiliate of Columbia University not integrated fully into the school until 1891.
He received the honorary
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
degree in 1904.
Academic career
Curtis began his career in clinical practice even before he had formally received his MD with a junior appointment at
Bellevue Hospital
Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...
. He remained there for several years, eventually reaching the rank of
attending surgeon in 1876 and serving in that role until 1880. He also became a medical school demonstrator at Columbia shortly after receiving his MD and remained on the teaching staff in various roles until becoming a professor in 1883. When
John Call Dalton
John Call Dalton (February 2, 1825 – February 12, 1889) was an American physiologist and vivisection activist who became the first full-time professor of physiology in the United States.
Early life
Dalton was born in Chelmsford, Massachusett ...
became the school's dean in 1883, Curtis took his place as a professor of physiology. Throughout his years at Columbia, Curtis was involved in education and service roles, including fourteen years as secretary of the faculty, six as the medical school representative on the university council, and one as acting dean of the faculty of medicine.
Curtis retired from Columbia in 1909 and assumed
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.
Although Curtis was not especially active as a researcher, he was deeply interested in the education of medical students and in the history of medicine and physiology. He was one of five men recognized as the key founders of 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 ...
, and hosted its first meeting of seventeen attendees in his laboratory space at Columbia on December 30, 1887.
He served on the APS council from its founding until 1893.
Along with APS co-founder
Silas Weir Mitchell, he worked to study the history of physiology on behalf of the society.
He also sought to improve medical education in physiology, hiring
Frederic Schiller Lee as a demonstrator at Columbia to develop more practical laboratory instruction.
He contributed to a widely used physiology textbook and wrote a book of medical history called ''Harvey's Views on the Circulation of the Blood'', published in 1915.
Curtis died in
Chatham, Massachusetts on September 21, 1913.
Family
Curtis married at
Christ Church Cathedral ,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, on 13 December 1902 Netta Easter Blackwood, daughter of Henry James Blackwood, of
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, John
American physiologists
American medical historians
1844 births
1913 deaths
Harvard College alumni
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni