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DR. MERLE LAWRENCE (1915-2007)
On Monday January 29th, 2007, the field of
Otolaryngology lost one of its greatest educators
and scientists with the death of Dr. Merle Lawrence
(1915-2007). He was an eminent physiologist and a
dedicated and beloved teacher who was at the center
of a unique era in the establishment and growth of
research in Otolaryngology.
Born in Remsen, New York, he received his
education at Princeton University where he
continued to his PhD in 1941 under the mentorship
of Dr E. Glen Wever. The work of Dr Wever's
laboratory on vertebrate hearing inspired Dr
Lawrence to turn this area of research into a
lifelong study. A fellowship from the National
Research Council led him to a postdoctoral post
with Dr. Stacy Guild in the Otolaryngology
Department at the Johns Hopkins University. It was
there that the practical clinical problems
concerning the middle and inner ear captured his
interest through work with several prominent
academic otolaryngologists including Drs Crowe and
Lindsay.
During World War II he served as a Naval aviator
of the US Naval Reserve, seeing action in the south
Pacific, and returning from overseas as a highly
decorated Lt. Cmdr. Subsequent assignments brought
him to the School of Aviation Medicine in Pensacola
and to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in
Washington, D.C. He was briefly reassigned to
active duty as a helicopter trainer during the
Korean war.
In 1946, Merle joined Princeton University as an
Assistant Professor and continued research
collaborations with Dr Wever. He also was appointed
as an Associate Researcher at the Lempert Institute
of Otology in New York City (1946-52). The late
1940s were golden years of middle ear physiology
and middle ear reconstructive surgery. His early
master-work published with Dr E.G. Wever in 1954,
"Physiological Acoustics", became essential reading
for scientists and clinicians alike.
Dr Lawrence joined the Otolaryngology Department
at the University of Michigan in 1952 upon
invitation of Dr. Furstenberg, Chair of the
Otolaryngology Department and Dean of the Medical
School. He remained at Michigan for the rest of his
career, founding the Kresge Hearing Research
Institute in 1963. Under his leadership the
Institute grew to become one of the largest and
most influential centers for research on hearing
world-wide. Acting as its first Director until
retirement in 1983, Merle conducted research on
inner physiology and shaped the careers of
scientists and academic clinicians alike. Many of
his trainees became department chairs,
distinguished clinicians, or basic scientists.
Education was just one, but a very unique, part of
his remarkable career.
Among his fellow scientists, Merle's name is
intimately associated with inner ear physiology
where, among other accomplishments, he
characterized the cochlear microphonic, a receptor
potential from sensory hair cells. He also
pioneered the study of cochlear vascular physiology
at the level of the capillaries. His insights into
the underlying physiology impacted the the great
advances in middle ear functional restoration and
reconstruction, including the tympanoplasty and
stapedectomy procedure.
Merle was a creative scientist publishing
extensively in research articles, chapters and
books. His work has aptly been recognized by his
peers with awards and honors among them the Service
Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and
Otolaryngology; Award of Merit of the Association
for Research in Otolaryngology; Gold Medal Award of
the American Otological Society; Distinguished
Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Academy
of Audiology; and many others.
In addition to being a dedicated husband, father
of three, grandfather of five and great-grandfather
of nine, Merle shared a life-long passion for
swimming with his master gold-medallist swimmer and
wife of 64 years, Bobbie.
Auditory science has lost one of its great and
gracious scientists. Those of us who knew him so
well and respected him as a friend and teacher will
miss him dearly. The Lawrence family requests that
remembrances to the memory of Merle Lawrence be
made to the Merle Lawrence Research Fund, Kresge
Hearing Research Institute, 1301 East Ann Street,
Ann Arbor MI 48109-0506.
(written by Drs. Jochen Schacht and Alfred
Nuttall)
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