Edward Howell Lanphier, M.D.

:: Edward Howell Lanphier, M.D. - Science - 1963

Edward Howell Lanphier was born on May 29, 1922 in Madison, Wisconsin. He earned his degrees from the University of Wisconsin (B.S., 1946) and the University of Illinois (M.S. & M.D., 1949). He married Karron Baird in 1978.

Dr. Lanphier was involved in dive-related research beginning in 1951, and was one of the world’s leading authorities on hyperbaric medicine and diving physiology. He was senior scientist at the Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Wisconsin at Madison (U.W.-Madison) and Assistant Director for Biomedical Research at U.W.-Madison Biotron. His professional experience included the following: American College of Physicians research fellow in physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (1950-1951); assistant medical officer and physiologist, United States Navy Expert Diving Unit (1952-1958); diving medical officer, Eniwetok Proving Ground (1958); medical officer, Underwater Demolition Team, Norfolk, VA (1958-1959); he went from assistant professor to associate professor in physiology at the SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine (1959-1973).

In the 1970s he directed work under the Wisconsin Sea Grant, conducting some of the first controlled experimental assessments of the causes and effects of the bends and other forms of decompression sickness or illness. Lanphier wrote and spoke extensively on a variety of diving subjects, including decompression in surface-based diving, comfort in underwater exercise, animal and human respiration under increased pressures, and hyperbaric treatments. His research interests included respiratory physiology, submarine and diving medicine, physiological problems of immersions and exposure to increased pressure, and hyperbaric medicine.

During his career Dr. Lanphier was a member of the American Physiological Society, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, and the American Academy of Underwater Science. Dr. Lanphier was the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Behnke Award from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (1977), and the NOGI Award from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (1963). He died on June 6, 1999.