Philip A. Shaffer Photographs and Engravings

Studio portrait of Fred T. Murphy, first Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of ... View of the laboratory of Philip A. Shaffer. Biochemistry Laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine. Irene Koechig and two unidentified men at work in the Department of Biological Chemistry laboratory. Several men at work in the Biochemistry Laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine. Men at work in the Biochemistry Laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine. View of Barnes Hospital under construction. View of Barnes Hospital under construction. View of Barnes Hospital under construction. View of Barnes Hospital under construction. View of Barnes Hospital. View of Barnes Hospital and the Washington University School of Medicine Dispensary Building unde... View of the future site of the North and South Buildings, pre-construction. View of the North and South Buildings under construction. View of the North or the South Building under construction. Studio portrait of Leo Loeb. Group portrait at an anniversary banquet for Dr. Shaffer, Coronado Hotel, St. Louis. Philip A. Shaffer and his daughters during a picnic. Philip A. Shaffer reading a book to his daughter Jane. Philip A. Shaffer with his daughters.
Results 1 to 20 of 22 Show all

Description

Reference code

VC009

Level of description

Collection

Title

Philip A. Shaffer Photographs and Engravings

Date(s)

  • 1913-1920 (Creation)

Extent

0.4 cubic feet (2 boxes)

Name of creator

(1881-1960)

Biographical history

Philip A. Shaffer (1881-1960) was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, son of Joseph H. and Hannah Anderson Shaffer. After preliminary education in Martinsburg, he entered the University of West Virginia at the age of 15 and, after receiving his AB, attended Harvard University, obtaining his PhD in biological chemistry in 1904. Shaffer married Nan Jefferson Evans in 1904. The couple had three children, Jane Jefferson Prince of St. Louis, Nancy Elizabeth Shaffer, and Philip Anderson Shaffer, Jr.

While working for his doctorate at Harvard, he was a research biological chemist at McLean Hospital in Waverly, Massachusetts, 1900-1903. After graduation from Harvard, Shaffer became Assistant and Instructor of Chemical Pathology at Cornell University Medical College in New York, remaining there for six years. In 1910 he was appointed Professor of Biological Chemistry and Head of the Department at Washington University School of Medicine, a position he retained until 1946. He twice served as Dean of the School, from 1915 to 1919 and from 1937 to 1946. He was Distinguished Service Professor of Biochemistry from 1946 to 1952, becoming Emeritus in 1951 when he retired from the Medical School Faculty. His teaching career was interrupted briefly during World War I when he served as a Major in the U.S. Army, A.E.F., being given the responsibility for the diets of the overseas personnel. Shaffer was a member of the following societies: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences, American Society of Biological Chemists (Secretary 1913-1915, President 1923-1924), American Philosophical Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Psi, Alpha Tau Omega.

Shaffer first worked with Otto Folin and his first scientific publication, in 1901, concerned the quantitative determination of uric acid in urine. Later papers were published which dealt both with broad concepts of metabolism over a wide field, and with specific chemical methods of study. One of his early important contributions was his study of metabolism in typhoid fever, which lead to the development of the Coleman-Shaffer high caloric diet in the treatment of that disease. Interest then shifted to relationships of carbohydrate and fat metabolism, with special emphasis on the significance of ketosis. In these studies he collaborated with many of his students and junior staff members - Williams McKim Marriott, Roger S. Hubbard, Michael Somogyi, Alexis F. Hartmann, Edward A. Doisy, Theodore E. Friedemann, and Ethel Ronzoni. Of special interest, Shaffer developed a rapid method of measuring the sugar in small amounts of blood. Banting and Best used his finding in their discovery and assay of insulin. A case arose not long thereafter where insulin was needed to save the lives of two infants in the St. Louis Children's Hospital. Shaffer followed Banting and Best's method. That experience quickly led to understanding that strong acid is needed in the original extraction from the pancreas, and that insulin is a protein and it could be highly concentrated by isoelectric precipitation. At that time, such facts were unknown, either to the Toronto investigators or to the Eli Lilly scientists, who were encountering difficulty in getting consistently potent insulin preparations by the original method. Shaffer's contributions hastened the commercial production of insulin. In his later years, Shaffer became interested in oxidation-reduction reactions, and in this area his contributions were also of significance.

Shaffer published a total of 72 scientific papers. Yet it is probably fair to state that by far the greatest part of his time and efforts were concerned with administrative issues of the School and University that came before him as a member of the Senate and Executive Faculty and as Dean.

Those of us who were privileged to work with Shaffer admired him most for his extraordinary ability to perceive unusual talent in very young people, a trait which led to many valuable appointments to the School of Medicine (W. McKim Marriott, E. A. Doisy, Evarts A. Graham, E. W. West, Carl and Gerty Cori, David Barr, Willard Allen, Barry Wood, R. A. Moore, to mention just a few), for his tremendous courage in never wavering from the high principles which he set for himself and the School of Medicine, and for his extreme loyalty to the School and his utter unselfishness in working for it.

Shaffer died December 4, 1960.

*Adapted from a statement written for the Executive Faculty meeting of December, 1960 by Alexis F. Hartmann, Sr., Carl F. Cori, and Joseph Erlanger. Abbreviated and edited for this introduction November 2001.

Scope and content

This collection consists of 19 photographs and one bookplate engraving. Depicted subjects include views of the Biochemistry Laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine, views of Barnes Hospital and the North and South Buildings under construction, and photographs of Philip A. Shaffer and his daughters.

System of arrangement

Some items have been previously removed from this collection, which has led to an incomplete sequence of numbered items.

Conditions governing access

The collection is open and accessible for research.

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Users of the collection should read and abide by the Rights and Permissions guidelines at the Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives.

Users of the collection who wish to cite items from this collection, in whole or in part, in any form of publication must request, sign, and return a Statement of Use form to the Archives.

For detailed information regarding use of this collection, contact the Archives and Rare Book Department of the Becker Library (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).

Preferred Citation:

Item description, Reference Code, Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives, Washington University in St. Louis.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Related descriptions

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Rules or conventions

"Describing Archives: A Content Standard, Second Edition (DACS), 2013."

Sources used

Archivist's note

© Copyright 2019 Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives. All rights reserved.

Place access points

Genre access points

Accession area