R. H. Wasserman

Robert Harold Wasserman (11 February 1926, Schenectady, New York – 23 May 2018, Ithaca, New York) was a professor of veterinary medicine and a research scientist, known as the principal investigator leading the scientists credited with the discovery of calcium-binding proteins.

Biography After graduating from high school in Schenectady, Wasserman matriculated in June 1943 at Union College, where he studied for three months before joining the Army Specialized Training Program and then the U. S. Army for basic training. In October 1944 he was sent overseas, where in December 1944 his division participated in operations of the Battle of the Bulge. After military service in WWII, he spent a year working on a farm in upstate New York and then matriculated at Cornell University. Wasserman returned to Cornell University. There he graduated in 1953 with a Ph.D. in nutritional microbiology. He was the author or co-author of more than 360 research articles, including 14 papers in Science and 7 papers in Nature. Wassermann was on sabbatical leave at the University of Copenhagen in 1964–1965, the University of Leeds in 1972, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in 1981, and the National Institute on Aging in 1982–1983. He participated in over 40 international conferences on calcium metabolism, bone health, calcification, and vitamin D.

Awards and honors 1964 — Guggenheim Fellowship (academic year 1964-1965 spent studying under Hans H. Ussing 1987 — Burroughs Lectureship at Iowa State University 1982 — Prix André Lichtwitz from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale-Paris 1989 — MERIT Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 1990 — William F. Neuman Award of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research 1992 — Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition

Selected publications