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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. --
Paul C. Lauterbur, a University of Illinois
professor of
chemistry who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2003
for his pioneering work in the development of
magnetic resonance imaging, died March 27, 2007, at
his home in Urbana, Ill.
The cause of death was
kidney disease. Lauterbur was 77 years old.
A member of the faculty at Illinois since 1985,
Lauterbur shared the Nobel Prize for physiology or
medicine with Sir Peter Mansfield of the University
of Nottingham in England.
Lauterbur was among the first scientists to use
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the study
of molecules, solutions and solids. In the early
1970s he began applying the same technology to
biological organisms. As in other NMR experiments,
Lauterbur put his subjects – he first used a clam –
inside a powerful magnetic field and collected the
resulting radio signals that were emitted by atomic
nuclei within the tissues. He discovered that using
a static magnetic field and varying the intensity of
a second magnetic field across his subjects yielded
clearer signals, allowing better imaging of
different tissues.
Mansfield, a physicist, improved the utilization of
magnetic gradients and showed how the resulting
signals could be mathematically analyzed.
“Through his life and his work, Paul Lauterbur
exemplified the ideals of the University of Illinois
– creativity, passion, tenacity, and most
importantly, commitment to mankind,” said Richard
Herman, the chancellor of the Urbana campus. “Paul’s
influence is felt around the world every day, every
time an MRI saves the life of a daughter or a son, a
mother or a father. He will be greatly missed.”
Lauterbur, who was born May 6, 1929, in Sidney,
Ohio, earned a doctorate in chemistry from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1962 and a bachelor’s
degree in chemistry in 1951 from Case Institute of
Technology, Cleveland.
He was a professor in the department of chemistry at
the State University of New York at Stony Brook from
1963 to 1985, when he joined the faculty of the
University of Illinois
College of
Medicine. In his 22 years at the U. of I.,
Lauterbur also had appointments or affiliations with
the Center for
Advanced Study, the
Beckman
Institute, the department of
electrical and
computer engineering and the department of
physiology and biophysics (now two units: the
department of
molecular and integrative physiology and the
Center
for Biophysics and Computational Biology). At
the time of his death, he was a Center for Advanced
Study professor of chemistry, biophysics and
computational biology and
bioengineering.
He also was the Distinguished University Professor
of Medical Information Sciences.
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In addition to the
Nobel Prize, Lauterbur received the following honors
and awards: Technology Award of the Eduard Rhein
Foundation (2003); National Academy of Sciences
Award for Chemistry in Service to Society (2001);
Kyoto Prize from the Inamori Foundation of Japan in
recognition of lifelong research accomplishments in
advanced technology (1994); Order of Lincoln
Medallion, the state of Illinois’ highest award
(1992); Franklin Institute’s Bower Award for
Achievement in Science (1990) and the Albert Lasker
Clinical Research Award (1984). Lauterbur was a
member of the National Academy of Sciences and a
Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science and of the American Physical
Society.
He is survived by his
wife, U. of I. physiology professor Joan Dawson; a
daughter, Elise Lauterbur, a student at Oberlin
College; a son and daughter from his first marriage:
Daniel Lauterbur, of Perry, Mich., and Sharyn
Lauterbur-DiGeronimo, of Selden, N.Y. Lauterbur’s
first wife, Rose Mary Caputo, lives in East
Setauket, N.Y.
[Text copied from
University of Illinois news release]
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