McKeen Cattell, PhD Papers

McKeen Cattell was born in 1891 in Garrison, NY. After studying at Cambridge University and University of Berlin, he received a B. S. from Columbia University in 1914. He continued his studies at Harvard University, where he earned a M. A. degree in 1917. During World War I, he served at the Central Laboratories Medical Department in Dijon, France under his Harvard mentor, Walter Cannon. At Dijon, he studied shock victims response to anesthetic and narcotic drugs. He returned to Harvard where he received a PhD in Medical Sciences in 1920; and a M.D. in 1924. While studying at Harvard, he was a teaching fellow in the physiology and pharmacology departments.

After his studies in 1924, he was appointed an instructor in physiology at Cornell University Medical College. He rose to associate professor of pharmacology and acting chairman of the department in 1936. He was officially appointment as chairman of Department of Pharmacology in 1943 and given the rank of professor. He stepped down from the chairmanship in 1956. He retired in 1959. He died on February 8, 1983.

His research contributions were in the area of muscle physiology. He collaborated with Harry Gold on effect of digitalis drugs on the heart muscles. In 1963, Drs. Cattell and Gold co-founded the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.