Papers of George Wald, 1927-1996 (HUGFP 143, box 40 Leprosy)

This small selection of papers includes correspondence with Robert R Jacobson, Chief of the Clinical Branch and Medical Department, at the US Public Service Hospital, Carville on the value of vitamins in the treatment of leprosy.

George David Wald, 1906-1997, was a Nobel Prize-winning biologist, Higgins Professor of Biology at Harvard University, and a promoter of progressive political and social causes. His papers document both his life as a scientist and his life as a social activist. Wald worked first in the laboratory of Professor Otto Warburg in Berlin, where he identified the presence of Vitamin A in the retina of the eye. His research on vision included the comparison of retinas in different organisms and the discovery of retinene, a fundamental chemical agent in vision. His long career as a vision scientist and physiologist culminated in his discovery of how Vitamin A works in the retina, leading to the understanding of the chemical basis of vision.

The Papers of George Wald are stored off-site. Please consult the Harvard University Archives Reference Department for information about retrieval of material.

Entry made April-June 2002