Philip Smith
Columbia University
January 1, 1884 - December 8, 1970
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Scientific Discipline: Cellular and Developmental Biology Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1939)
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Philip E. Smith’s work in endocrinology strengthened our understanding of the role the pituitary gland plays in the body. He focused his research on growth factors in amphibians and rats when aspects of the pituitary were altered. He found that the removal of the pituitary in amphibians caused a hindrance in growth, especially within the reproductive organs, and degradation of other endocrine glands. He also studied the effects of hypopituitarism and hormone replacement therapy in rats, which lead to a greater understanding of the consequences of abnormal pituitary function in mammals.
Smith attended Pomona College and graduated in 1908. He went on to attend Cornell University, where he received his PhD in anatomy in 1912. He then accepted a faculty position at the University of California at Berkley in 1920 and headed the anatomy department until 1925. He was appointed professor of anatomy at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1927 and served until 1952.
