Glenn Allan Millikan

Glenn Allan Millikan (May 23, 1906 – May 25, 1947) was an American physiologist, inventor and mountaineer. Millikan invented the first practical, portable oximeter in 1940–1942. The Millikan oximeter "is generally acknowledged as the beginning of oximetry in physiology and clinical medicine." The word oximeter was introduced by Millikan. After the outbreak of World War II Millikan was stranded in the United States. According to Millikan's early statements, light absorbance of green light was independent of blood oxygen level, absorbance of red light depended on it. However, in 1942 it was found that the flesh of human ear absorbs almost all green light. "Green light" sensed by Millikan's photocell was actually invisible infrared light emitted by the lamp and unaffected by green filter. Millikan's own solutions to these challenges were poor.

Death In 1938, Millikan married Frances Clare Leigh-Mallory, daughter of George Mallory, the mountaineer who died while climbing Mount Everest.

After his death his parents sponsored a series of Glenn Millikan lectures at Vanderbilt.