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13th APS President (1932-1934)
Arno B. Luckhardt
(1885-1957)
The major events of Arno B. Luckhardt's term as president of APS were the
creation in 1933 of the Board of Publication Trustees to oversee the
management of the Society's journals and the initiation of formal review
procedures for manuscripts submitted for publication in the American
Journal of Physiology. Previously the managing editor, Hooker accepted
articles on his sole authority; in 1933 for the first time all articles were
to be submitted for review by a Board of Editors.
Born in Chicago, Luckhardt spent his entire professional career at the
University of Chicago. He received his B.S. (1906) and Ph.D. (1911) degrees
from the University of Chicago and an M.D. degree from the associated Rush
Medical College (1912). He joined the Department of Physiology in 1909 and
eventually became William Beaumont Distinguished Service Professor. He
retired in 1950. As an investigator he is most remembered for his
demonstration of the anesthetic value of ethylene gas and his perfection of
the technique in practical surgery. Also of clinical importance was his
demonstration that after complete parathyroidectomy animals could be
maintained alive by administration of organic calcium salts. Other research
themes included studies of gastric motility, gastric and pancreatic
secretion, parathyroid physiology, general and local anesthetics, the
visceral sensory nervous system, and respiratory physiology.
Luckhardt was elected to APS in 1911 and served as secretary from 1930 to
1932 just before his term as president. He was a long-time member of Council
(1923-24, 1927-29, and 1930-42). In addition to his scientific work and his
excellent reputation as a teacher, Luckhardt was an avid book collector and
an enthusiastic historian of physiology. A recognized expert on the subject
of William Beaumont and a collector of Beaumontiana, he presented to the
Society an oil sketch by Dean Cornwell of his well-known painting of
Beaumont and St. Martin. This painting now hangs in the headquarters of the
Federation, Beaumont House. The APS archives is fortunate to have a complete
scrapbook compiled by Luckhardt of the 1939 annual meeting in Toronto
dedicated to the use of the historian of 1989.
Selected Publications
1. Anonymous. Arno Benedict Luckhardt, 1885-1957. Physiologist 13:
1-2, 1970.
2. Howell, W. H., and C. W. Greene. History of the American
Physiological Society Semicentennial, 1887-1937. Baltimore, MD: Am.
Physiol. Soc., 1938, p. 146-147.
3. McLean, F. C. Arno B. Luckhardt, physiologist. Science 127:
509, 1958.
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