Norton Nelson

Morton Lippmann,1

New York University School of Medicine, Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine, 57 Old Forge Road, Tuxedo, New York 10987

In terms of lasting influence on the maturation of the field of environmental health science, Norton Nelson had few peers. He was mentor to many of today's leaders in the field, creator and leader for over 25 years of the academic research institute now named for him at New York University. He chaired influential scientific advisory committees for NIEHS, NCI, EPA, DOE, WHO and many other agencies, was advisor to academic centers and research programs, and was a respected voice in numerous hearings and consultations in the halls of the U.S. Congress. In all of these roles, he was a teller of truth and a practical idealist who earned and maintained the trust of his colleagues.

Dr. Nelson was born in McClure, Ohio, received his undergraduate training at Wittenberg College, and obtained his doctoral degree in Biochemistry at the University of Cincinnati. Early in his career as a biochemist, he was noted for important contributions to carbohydrate research. One of his early reports, "A photometric adaptation of the Somogyi method for the determination of glucose" (J. Biol. Chem. 153, 375–380, 1944), was listed in Contemporary Classics in the Life Sciences, Vol. 2, The Molecules of Life (J. T. Bauet, Ed., ISI Press, Philadelphia, 1985) as being among the most frequently cited of publications, having been cited at a rate of about 250 times annually for a total of 4485 citations between 1961 and 1982.

During World War II, together with other outstanding scientists at the Armed Forces Institute of Medical Research at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Dr. Nelson did groundbreaking work on thermal physiology, which was important to the war effort because of its relevance to tank warfare in the desert.

In 1947, Dr. Nelson joined the New York University School of Medicine, where he served as director of the Institute of Environmental Medicine from 1954 to 1979. Under his leadership, the Institute grew to be a highly productive and prestigious academic unit, being noted particularly for its research in cancer, aerosols and pulmonary disease, and environmental radiation. As director, Dr. Nelson continued to contribute actively to research on carcinogen metabolism, the deposition of inhaled particulates in the respiratory tract, and the experimental induction and epidemiology of lung cancer. He is widely credited for having developed the basis for the control of the occupational lung carcinogens bischloromethylether, dimethylcarbamoyl chloride, and epichlorohydrin.

Dr. Nelson received many awards, including the Billard Award for Research in Environmental Sciences from the New York Academy of Sciences, the Environmental Regeneration Award from the Dubos Center for the Human Environment, the Ramazzini Award from the Collegeum Ramazzini Society, the Fellow Award from the American College of Preventive Medicine, and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Wittenberg University. He was also elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Under Dr. Nelson's chairmanship, in 1965 the National Advisory Environmental Health Committee submitted a special report to the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service recommending the establishment of a federal system for developing occupational exposure standards. This led ultimately to the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Many other contributions resulted from his membership on advisory committees of the National Academy of Sciences: the Committee on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources and the National Academy of Sciences Board on Toxicology and Environmental Health Hazards and on various committees of the NCI and the NIEHS. He was co-chairman with his close colleague, Dr. James Whittenberg, of the panels that produced the first two "Green Books" (Man's Health and the Environment—Some Research Needs, 1970, and Human Health and the Environment, 1977, published by NIEHS) that proposed long-term agendas for research on environmental health science.

In the mid-1980s, he chaired the Science Advisory Board (SAB) of the Environmental Protection Agency at a time when that agency needed all the credibility and assistance that SAB could provide. He served on the editorial boards of several prominent environmental health journals and was a member of approximately twenty-five professional societies. He was prominent internationally as the chairman of the executive committee of the World Health Organization's Scientific Group on Methodology for the Safety Evaluation of Chemicals, and was a participant in the United States-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program, the USA-USSR Cooperative Program in Environmental Health Research, and many other international cooperative programs. On the local scene, he was active in the Health Research Councils of the City of New York and the State of New York, and he was a member of the mayor's Science and Technology Advisory Council. Altogether, his career encompassed approximately 120 major advisory groups and committees, and his influence on legislation that "benefited and promoted the field of environmental health" was noted by the National Journal in its June 14, 1986 issue, which listed him as "one of the 150 people best able to influence the federal government."

As stated by Dr. David Rall, a close colleague and former Director of NIEHS, Dr. Nelson can rightly be considered the father of the second generation of environmental public health, the first being focused on vector-borne illnesses, pure water supplies, sanitation, and food safety. This second generation is directed towards the possible health effects that humans create in an industrialized society. Furthermore, through his tutelage and example, a third generation of environmental scientists is emerging. These scientists will understand both what the threats and dangers are and how they act, and will utilize and apply techniques such as molecular biology and computer modeling to develop approaches to prevention and mitigation.

Dr. Nelson passed away on February 4, 1990 at the age of 80, after forty-three years on the NYU faculty, where the Nelson Institute continues to carry on the research tradition that he established.

NOTES

1 For correspondence via fax: (914) 351-5472. E-mail: lippmann{at}env.med.nyu.edu. Back





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