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Oral history interview with Samuel Natelson

  • 1998-Feb-26

Oral history interview with Samuel Natelson

  • 1998-Feb-26

Samuel Natelson begins the interview with a discussion of his family background and childhood in Brooklyn, New York. After receiving his Ph.D., he began his career teaching at Girls Commercial High School. While maintaining his teaching position, Natelson joined the Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn in 1933. Working as a clinical chemist for Jewish Hospital, Natelson first conceived of the idea of a society by and for clinical chemists. Natelson worked to organize the nine charter members of the American Association of Clinical Chemists, which formally began in 1948. A pioneer in the field of clinical chemistry, Samuel Natelson has become a role model for the clinical chemist. Natelson developed the usage of microtechniques in clinical chemistry. During this period, he served as a consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the 1960s, helping analyze the effect of weightless atmospheres on astronauts' blood. Natelson spent his later career as chair of the biochemistry department at Michael Reese Hospital and as a lecturer at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He then became an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine. Natelson concludes his interview with thoughts on the future of clinical chemistry and reflections on his career and family.

Property Value
Interviewee
Interviewer
Place of interview
Format
Genre
Extent
  • 42 pages
Language
Subject
Rights Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Rights holder
  • Science History Institute
Credit line
  • Courtesy of Science History Institute

About the Interviewer

James G. Traynham is a professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from Northwestern University. He joined Louisiana State University in 1953 and served as chemistry department chairperson from 1968 to 1973. He was chairman of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1988 and is currently councilor of the Baton Rouge section of the American Chemical Society. He was a member of the American Chemical Society’s Joint-Board Council on Chemistry and Public Affairs, as well as a member of the Society’s Committees on Science, Chemical Education, and Organic Chemistry Nomenclature. He has written over 90 publications, including a book on organic nomenclature and a book on the history of organic chemistry.

Institutional location

Department
Collection
Oral history number 0166

Related Items

Interviewee biographical information

Born
  • February 28, 1909
  • Brooklyn
Died
  • March 31, 2001
  • Houston, Texas, United States

Education

Year Institution Degree Discipline
1928 City University of New York. City College BS Chemistry
1930 New York University ScM Chemistry
1931 New York University PhD Chemistry

Professional Experience

New York University

  • 1928 to 1931 Instructor

New York Testing Lab

  • 1931 to 1932 Research Chemist in-Charge

Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn

  • 1933 to 1949 Research Biochemist

Brooklyn College

  • 1947 to 1949 Lecturer
  • 1957 to 1965 Lecturer

Rockford Memorial Hospital

  • 1949 to 1957 Chair, Department of Biochemistry

St. Vincent's Hospital (Sydney, N.S.W.)

  • 1957 to 1958 Chair, Department of Biochemistry

Roosevelt Hospital (New York, N.Y.)

  • 1958 to 1965 Chair, Department of Biochemistry

New York Polyclinical Medical School and Hospital

  • 1962 to 1965 Lecturer

Michael Reese Hospital

  • 1965 to 1979 Chair, Department of Biochemistry

Illinois Institute of Technology

  • 1971 to 1979 Lecturer

University of Tennessee (System)

  • 1979 to 1999 Adjunct Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine

Honors

Year(s) Award
1961 Van Slyke Award in Clinical Chemistry
1965 Ames Award, American Association of Clinical Chemists
1971 Science Award, Illinois Clinical Lab Associates
1972 Chicago Clinical Chemistry Award

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PDF — 1.4 MB
natelson_s_0166_FULL.pdf

The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.

Complete Interview Audio File Web-quality download

5 Separate Interview Segments Archival-quality downloads