|
|
12th APS President (1929-1932)
Walter Joseph Meek
(1878-1963)
During Walter J. Meek's term in office a committee was created to examine
fully the policies and finances of the Society's publications. Its report
led to the establishment in 1933 of a Board of Publication Trustees to
oversee all aspects of the publications. Meek was appointed first chairman
of the Board of Publication Trustees and served in this position of great
responsibility and authority from 1933 to 1946.
Meek received his A.B. degree from the University of Kansas in 1902, his
A.M. degree from Penn College (Iowa), and his Ph.D. degree from the
University of Chicago in 1909. Appointed an instructor in physiology under
Joseph Erlanger at the University of Wisconsin in 1908, Meek rose through
the ranks to become professor of physiology in 1918. In 1919 he became
chairman of the department, a position he retained until 1948. He also
served as assistant dean of the Medical School from 1920 to 1942 and acting
dean from 1945 to 1949.
Meek's research dealt mainly with the cardiovascular system,
gastrointestinal tract, and autonomic nervous system. His work on the heart
included studies with A. J. Carlson on the heart of the Limulus and a
series of papers with J. A. E. Eyster on the origin and conduction of the
heartbeat in mammals. On this subject, Eyster and Meek published the first
article in the first volume of Physiological Reviews (1921). In other
studies, Meek investigated the effects of anesthetic agents, in particular
cyclopropane, on cardiac irritability and rhythm, studied the origin of
fibrin in the liver, and investigated distension as a factor in intestinal
obstruction.
Meek was elected a member of APS in 1908 and soon became a stalwart of
the Society. He was a member of Council from 1915 to 1919 and again from
1924 to 1936. He served as secretary from 1923 until 1929 when he was
elected to the presidency. Perhaps his greatest service to the Society was
as chairman of the Board of Publication Trustees. Under his guidance the
publications of the Society were reorganized and new procedures and
regulations instituted, including for the first time peer review of all
papers submitted. As chairman of the Semicentennial Committee, Meek arranged
the nostalgic banquet program, presided over by Porter, which was published
verbatim in the semicentennial history. An avid historian of medicine, Meek
assisted Howell and Greene with the writing of the history and held the
office of Society historian from 1938 to 1954.
The memorial notice in The Physiologist said of him that he was a
man of
"a modest, unassuming manner and was easily approachable by students and
colleagues alike. He had keen critical faculties based on sound logic and
was quickly able to get to the meat of a problem. His scientific work was
characterized by energy, experimental skill, originality and critical
ability. These characteristics were conveyed to the many co-workers and
students who were associated with him."
Selected Publications
1. Anonymous. Walter Joseph Meek, 1878-1963. Physiologist 12: 1-2,
1969.
2. Brooks, C. McC. Walter Joseph Meek, August 15, 1878-February 15, 1963.
Biogr Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 54: 251-268, 1983.
3. Howell, W. H., and C. W. Greene. History of the American
Physiological Society Semicentennial, 1887-1937. Baltimore, MD: Am.
Physiol. Soc., 1938, p. 135-137.
|
|
