Detlev Bronk

{{Short description|American scientist, educator, and administrator (1897–1975)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Detlev Bronk

| birth_name = Detlev Wulf Bronk

| image = Detlev Wulf Bronk.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Bronk in 1963

| title = President of Rockefeller University

| order = 3rd

| term_start = 1953

| term_end = 1968

| predecessor = Herbert Spencer Gasser

| successor = Frederick Seitz

| title2 = President of the National Academy of Sciences

| order2 = 16th

| term_start2 = 1950

| term_end2 = 1962

| predecessor2 = Alfred Newton Richards

| successor2 = Frederick Seitz

| title3 = President of Johns Hopkins University

| order3 = 6th

| term_start3 = 1949

| term_end3 = 1953

| predecessor3 = Isaiah Bowman

| successor3 = Lowell Reed

| birth_date = {{birth date|1897|8|13}}Ohles, Ohles & Ramsay: [https://books.google.com/books?id=PBj5-zHEMvoC&q=%22Detlev+Bronk%22&pg=PA42 Biographical Dictionary of Modern American Educators, p.42]: Greenwood Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-313-29133-0}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|11|17|1897|08|13}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| spouse = Helen Alexander Ramsey

| children = 3; including John{{Cite web|url=https://static.physoc.org/app/uploads/2019/02/22200811/Bronk-full-obituary.pdf|title=Obituaries: John Ramsey Bronk (1929–2007)|first=George|last=Kellett|accessdate=21 April 2024}}

| module = {{Infobox scientist | embed = yes

|field = Biophysics

|work_institution = Johns Hopkins University{{cite web |url=http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/about_jhu/past_presidents/index.cfm |title=The Johns Hopkins University – Past Presidents |access-date=2008-02-12 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212151222/http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/about_jhu/past_presidents/index.cfm |archive-date=February 12, 2008 }}. Johns Hopkins University
National Academy of Sciences{{cite web |url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ABOUT_Leadership_President |title=National Academy of Sciences: About the NAS: President |access-date=2010-04-07 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613132653/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ABOUT_Leadership_President |archive-date=June 13, 2011 }}
National Science Board{{cite journal|author=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc.|title=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Science and Public Affairs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6|access-date=February 15, 2012|date=February 1976|publisher=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc.|pages=6–|issn=0096-3402}}
University of Pennsylvania[http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/penncnc/about/history.html#yr60 History of the Penn Comprehensive Neuroscience Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618232827/http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/penncnc/about/history.html#yr60 |date=2010-06-18 }}. Uphs.upenn.edu. Retrieved on February 15, 2012.
Rockefeller University
World Academy of Art and Science[http://www.worldacademy.org/content/history History|World Academy of Art & Science]. Worldacademy.org (December 24, 1960). Retrieved on February 15, 2012.

|alma_mater = Swarthmore College
University of Michigan

| thesis_title = Electrical conductivity, electrical potential and hydrogen ion concentration measurements on the submaxillary gland of the dog, recorded with continuous photographic methods

| thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/301763358/

| thesis_year = 1926

|doctoral_advisor = Robert Gesell

|doctoral_students =

|author_abbreviation_bot =

|author_abbreviation_zoo =

|prizes = Franklin Medal (1961)[http://www.fi.edu/winners/detail.faw?winner_id=2406 The Franklin Institute Awards] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926202654/http://www.fi.edu/winners/detail.faw?winner_id=2406 |date=2013-09-26 }}. Fi.edu. Retrieved on 2012-02-15.
Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964)
Public Welfare Medal (1964)
National Medal of Science (1968)[https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.cfm?recip_id=57 U.S. National Science Foundation – The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details]. Nsf.gov. Retrieved on February 15, 2012.
Fellow of the Royal Society{{Cite journal | last1 = Adrian | first1 = L. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1976.0001 | title = Detlev Wulf Bronk 13 August 1897 – 17 November 1975 | journal = Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | volume = 22 | pages = 1–9 | year = 1976 | pmid = 11615711| doi-access = free }}

}}

Detlev Wulf Bronk (August 13, 1897 – November 17, 1975) was a prominent American scientist, educator, and administrator. He is credited with establishing biophysics as a recognized discipline. Bronk served as president of Johns Hopkins University from 1949 to 1953 and as president of The Rockefeller University from 1953 to 1968. Bronk also held the presidency of the National Academy of Sciences between 1950 and 1962.{{Cite journal | last1 = Lee | first1 = M. O. | title = Detlev W. Bronk, Scientist | doi = 10.1126/science.113.2928.143 | journal = Science | volume = 113 | issue = 2928 | page = 143 | year = 1951 | pmid = 17744817| bibcode = 1951Sci...113..143L | doi-access = }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Greenberg | first1 = D. S. | title = The National Academy of Sciences: Profile of an Institution (II) | doi = 10.1126/science.156.3773.360 | journal = Science | volume = 156 | issue = 3773 | pages = 360–364 | year = 1967 | pmid = 4886535| bibcode = 1967Sci...156..360G }}{{Cite journal

| last1 = De Duve | first1 = C.

| title = Notes on the life and work of Detlev Wulf Bronk, honorary foreign member

| journal = Bulletin et Mémoires de l'Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique

| volume = 131

| issue = 3–4–5

| pages = 176–183

| year = 1976

| pmid = 798623

}}{{cite journal|last=Brink|first=Jr|year=1975|title=Detlev Wulf Bronk|url=http://books.nap.edu/html/biomems/dbronk.pdf|journal=Memoirs of the National Academy of Science|volume=50|pages=3–40}}[http://libserv.aip.org:81/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!6694~!0&profile=icos Detlev W. Bronk Records, 1954–1968.][http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/bronk-detlev-w.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]

Biography

Bronk was a descendant of Pieter Bronck, an early settler to New Netherland for whose relative Jonas Bronck the New York City borough The Bronx is named.{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19751119&id=9tNQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Tl8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5684,3204966 | title=St. Petersburg Times |via=Google News Archive Search }} In 1920 Bronk graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering from Swarthmore College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.{{Cite book|title=Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (13th Ed.)|publisher=Publishing Concepts, Inc.|year=1991|pages=47, 567}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001078.html|title=Detlev Bronk|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|access-date=August 13, 2023}} In September 1921 Bronk married Helen Alexander Ramsey, who had been a fellow student at Swarthmore. Turning to physics, he received an M.S. in 1922 from the University of Michigan. By 1924 he was intent on applying physics and mathematics to physiology, receiving a Ph.D. in 1926 from the University of Michigan.{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/301763358/ |title=Electrical conductivity, electrical potential and hydrogen ion concentration measurements on the submaxillary gland of the dog, recorded with continuous photographic methods |date=1926 |publisher=University of Michigan |type=Ph.D. |last=Bronk |first=Detlev Wulf|id={{ProQuest|301763358}}|url-access=subscription |oclc=17285634}}

Career

When Bronk was offered the presidency of Johns Hopkins University in 1948, he accepted the position on the condition that Hopkins strengthen its program in biophysics. Hopkins did just that, building Jenkins Hall in 1950 specifically to house Biophysics and adding faculty and research facilities. Bronk believed the nation's universities had a responsibility to prepare students to improve the world, regardless of their academic curriculum. He also recognized that, during World War II, the Hopkins faculty had spent most of their time performing defense-related research, and now it was time to rejuvenate the idea of research for the sake of learning and discovery. He frequently spoke on "breadth in education," "fostering curiosity," and "a university is a community of scholars."Frank Brink, Jr., Detlev Wulf Bronk: 1897–1975 (National Academy of Sciences), 1979

In addition to guiding Hopkins through its post-war "demobilization," Bronk believed strongly in maintaining his own presence in the scientific community. He presided over the National Academy of Sciences and served on boards for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Science Advisory Committee of the Office of Defense Mobilization, and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (predecessor to NASA).

Bronk was also instrumental in reviving a plan to abolish undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins and turn Hopkins into a graduate-only institution. In 1952, as in 1925, the "New Plan" or "Bronk Plan" would have phased out the freshman and sophomore years and Hopkins would only admit students transferring from other institutions as juniors or above. These students would bypass the traditional undergraduate degree and begin work immediately toward a doctorate. As in 1925, the plan attracted little support from the intended student body and it was quietly dropped by the mid-1950s after Prof. Sidney Flax said "no".Fulvio Bardossi, "Dr. Detlev W. Bronk, President Emeritus of the Rockefeller University and Eminent Biophysicist, Dies Here" (Rockefeller University), November 17, 1975

Bronk was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1934 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1949.{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Detlev+Bronk&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=Detlev Wulf Bronk |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/detlev-wulf-bronk |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}

From 1953 to 1968 Bronk was president of The Rockefeller University. (The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research was renamed The Rockefeller University in 1965). He firmly espoused academic freedom and resisted attempts by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy to have Johns Hopkins University dismiss Professor Owen Lattimore. The same year he was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.{{cite web|title=Public Welfare Award |url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_pwm |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=February 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604024100/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_pwm |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |url-status=dead }} He was credited with formulating the modern theory of the science of biophysics.[http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=10&article=1009&context=penn_history&type=additional The Twentieth Century. 11 Alfred Newton Richards: Biomedical Research]. repository.upenn.edu He served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1965 to 1967.{{cn|date=December 2022}} Bronk is quoted as saying:

{{blockquote|A great deal of undergraduate education is built on ... telling a student what to do—at the very time he is developing intellectual habits for life. Too rarely is a student told, "This is the problem with which we are going to deal. Here are the books."}}{{cn|date=December 2022}}