Alfred Newton Richards


Prof Alfred Newton Richards was an American pharmacologist.

Career

Richards was born in Stamford, New York the son of Rev Leonard E. Richards and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Burbank. He was educated at the Stamford Seminary and Union Free School. He then studied at Yale University.
He served as chairman of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's department of pharmacology from 1910 to 1946 and was the university's vice-president of medical affairs from 1939 to 1948.
In 1941 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Richards chairman of the Committee on Medical Research. After this office was terminated in 1946, Richards became president of the National Academy of Sciences, serving until 1950.
In 1948, President Harry Truman appointed Richards to the Medical Affairs Task Force of the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government; Richards also became a director of Merck & Co., for which he had consulted since 1931, and an associate trustee of the University of Pennsylvania in 1948.

Family

He married Lillian L. Woody in 1908.

Recognition

The Richards Medical Research Laboratories building at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the best-known and most influential designs of architect Louis Kahn, is named for him.

Awards and honors

In addition, Richards was awarded the following honorary degrees:
;Doctor of Science
;Doctor of Laws
;Doctor of Medicine