Hermann Rahn
Born: 1912Death: 1990
Hermann Rahn was born in East Lansing, Michigan in 1912. He earned his bachelor's degree in zoology from Cornell University in 1933 and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1938.
In 1956, Rahn joined the University at Buffalo (UB) as the Lawrence D. Bell Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology. During his early years as Chairman, Rahn built a strong faculty that could grow the department. With this faculty's support he garnered several grants on the effects of altitude, diving, temperature, and gravity on human performance. Due to his efforts and leadership, the Department become an internationally known research center.
While at UB, Rahn's research interests included ama (the diving women of Korea and Japan who are able to deep-dive without machine assistance) and the gas exchange of avian eggs. In 1973, Rahn was named State University of New York Distinguished Professor of Physiology and stepped down from the chairmanship of the Department of Physiology to pursue more research. Although he spent much time in the lab, Rahn was a dedicated teacher who deeply cared about his students.
Hermann Rahn died of pancreatic cancer on 23 June 1990.
Affiliation(s): Physiology
Record Group(s): 19
Biographical File Contains:
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