Torsten Wiesel

Torsten Nils Wiesel (b. June 3, 1924) was co-recipient with David H. Hubel of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system; the prize was shared with Roger W. Sperry for his independent research on the cerebral hemispheres.

Biography

Wiesel was born in Uppsala, Sweden. In 1954, he began his scientific career in Carl Gustaf Bernhard's laboratory at the Karolinska Institute. One year later, he moved to the United States to work at Johns Hopkins University under Stephen Kuffler. Here,in 1968, he met Hubel, beginning a collaboration that lasted over twenty years. In 1959 they moved to Harvard University. Wiesel joined the faculty of Rockefeller University in 1983 and became president of the university in 1991. He stepped down to become president emeritus in 1998.

Related Topics:
Uppsala - Sweden - 1954 - Carl Gustaf Bernhard - Karolinska Institute - United States - Johns Hopkins University - Stephen Kuffler - 1968 - 1959 - Harvard University - Rockefeller University - 1983 - 1991 - 1998

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In 2001, Wiesel was nominated to a panel in the National Institutes of Health to advise on assisting research in developing countries. Though well-qualified, Wiesel was rejected by Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson reportedly because Wiesel had "signed too many full-page letters in The New York Times critical of President Bush." http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-te.nat09jul09,0,6847980.story?coll=bal-technology-headlines This incident was cited by the Union of Concerned Scientists as part of a report detailing President George W. Bush's alleged abuse of science.

Related Topics:
2001 - National Institutes of Health - Tommy Thompson - Union of Concerned Scientists - George W. Bush

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