Fenn was born in
Lanesborough, Massachusetts. He graduated from
Harvard University with an
A.B. degree in 1914. His graduate work and Ph.D. thesis were interrupted by
World War I, and he finished it upon return from the army in 1919. He was an instructor at
Harvard Medical School from 1919 to 1923. He then studied at the
Rockefeller Institute for two years. Subsequently, he assumed his position as the chairman of the department of physiology at the
University of Rochester, where he stayed until 1959. He specialized in the physiology of runners, then in aviation, and later in space exploration. The American Physiological Society obituary described him as "[a] sincerely modest man [who] avoided the spotlight and never dominated a meeting or conversation, but he was forceful when required and had a warm, outgoing nature with a delightful sense of humor".[4]
Chronology
1893: Born August 27 in Lanesboro, Massachusetts
1910: Graduated from Cambridge Latin School, Cambridge, Mass
1914: A.B., Harvard University
1916: A.M., Harvard University
1917–1918: Second Lieutenant, US Army, Sanitary Corps
1919: Ph.D., Harvard University (Plant Physiology)
1919–1922: Instructor in Applied Physiology, Harvard Medical School
1922–1924: Trabeling Fellow, Rockefeller Institute
1924–1959: Professor and Chairman of Physiology, The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
1962–1966: Director, Space Science Center, The University of Rochester
1961–1971: Distinguished Professor of Physiology
1971: Died September 20 in Rochester, New York, after a brief illness
1967: Research Achievement Award, American Heart Association
1971: Johannes Muller Medallion, The German Physiological Society
1971: Ville de Monaco Medal
Honorary degrees
1950: University of Chicago, D.Sc
1959: Universidad San Marcos, Peru, Catedratico
1960: Universote de Paris, Docteur
1965: Eniversite Libre de Bruxelles, Docteur
1965: The University of Rochester, D.Sc
Notable publications
Respiration: 10 editions published between 1964 and 1976 in English and held in 278 libraries worldwide
History of the American Physiological Society; the third quarter century, 1937–1962: 4 editions published in 1963 in English and held in 190 libraries worldwide
History of the International Congresses of Physiological Sciences, 1889–1968: 7 editions published between 1968 and 1969 in English and held in 159 libraries worldwide
Muscle: 1 edition published in 1941 in English and held in 33 libraries worldwide
Other publications:
Daggs, R. G. Wallace O. Fenn, 1893–1971. Physiologist 14: 301–303, 1971.
Physiology on horseback. Past-president's address. Am. J. Physiol. 159: 551–555, 1949.
Fenn, W. O. Born fifty years too soon. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 24: 1–10, 1962.
Fenn, W. O. History of the American Physiological Society: The Third Quarter Century, 1937–1962. Washington, DC: Am. Physiol. Soc., 1963.
Fenn, W. O. (Editor) History of the International Congresses of Physiological Sciences, 1889–1968. Washington, DC: Am. Physiol. Soc., 1968.
Rahn, H. Wallace O. Fenn, president of the American Physiological Society, 1946–1948. Physiologist 19: 1–10, 1976.
Rahn, H. Wallace Osgood Fenn, August 27, 1893 – September 20, 1971. Biogr. Mem. Natl. Acad. Sci. 50: 141–173, 1979.