Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (1915–2007)

"Schmidt-Nielsen was born in Trondheim, Norway, in 1915 and became a U.S. citizen in 1952. Educated in Oslo and Copenhagen, he spent two postdoctoral years at Swarthmore College, a year at Stanford University and three at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine before coming to Duke in 1952. He published 270 scientific papers and five books that were translated into 16 languages. He also received numerous awards, including the International Prize for Biology, the Japanese equivalent to the Nobel Prize in the biological sciences.

'At times, I wonder what made me a physiologist and not an engineer or carpenter or physician,' he said in 1997. 'I could probably have done reasonably well in any of those fields -- about carpentry, I feel certain. I was always curious about animals, and because my father permitted me to choose my own ways, I have enjoyed the excitement of a life spent discovering how animals work. I have just never stopped asking questions,' he said." Excerpted from Duke University News & Communications: http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2007/01/...