J. Murdoch Ritchie

Joseph Murdoch Ritchie
Born (1925-06-10)June 10, 1925
Aberdeen, Scotland
Died July 9, 2008(2008-07-09) (aged 83)
Hamden, Connecticut
Spouse(s) Brenda Bigland-Ritchie
Children Alasdair Ritchie
Jocelyn Ritchie

Joseph Murdoch Ritchie (June 10, 1925 – July 9, 2008)[1] was a Scottish born American biophysicist and a professor at Yale University.

Early life and education

Ritchie studied mathematics and physics at the University of Aberdeen, then did his doctorate at University College, London in biophysics in 1952. He joined the faculty at Yale[2] in pharmacology in 1968, and later served as chairman of the department and as director of the division of biological sciences (1975–1978). He retired in 2003.[3]

Career

Ritchie is known for asking the Central Intelligence Agency in 1975 to share its supply of saxitoxin[4] (which were used in suicide pills) with scientists for research and his work in neuroscience.[5] He was the co-author of numerous scientific and technical books and articles.[6]

Personal life

He was married to Brenda Bigland–Ritchie, a physiologist. They had a son, Alasdair Ritchie, a biologist, and a daughter, Jocelyn Ritchie, a neuropsychologist.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Rang, H. P. (2009). "Joseph Murdoch Ritchie. 10 June 1925 -- 9 July 2008". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 55: 241. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2009.0011.
  2. ↑ Waxman, S. G.; Ritchie, J. M. (1993). "Molecular dissection of the myelinated axon". Annals of Neurology. 33 (2): 121–136. doi:10.1002/ana.410330202. PMID 7679565.
  3. ↑ "Society for Neuroscience - J. Murdoch Ritchie Obituary". Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  4. ↑ Ritchie, J. M.; Rogart, R. B. (1977). "The binding of saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin to excitable tissue". Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology. 79. pp. 1–50. doi:10.1007/BFb0037088. ISBN 978-3-540-08326-9. PMID 335473.
  5. ↑ Waxman, S.; Ritchie, J. (1985). "Organization of ion channels in the myelinated nerve fiber". Science. 228 (4707): 1502–1507. doi:10.1126/science.2409596. PMID 2409596.
  6. ↑ http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=j+murdoch+ritchie J. Murdoch Ritchie in Google Scholar
  7. ↑ Pearce, Jeremy (July 29, 2008). J. Murdoch Ritchie, 83, Yale Biophysicist, Is Dead. New York Times
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