Howard Rasmussen

Howard Rasmussen was born March 1, 1925, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Frederick Rasmussen and Faith Elliott.^[1][2] He grew up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm with five brothers.^[3] As a young man, he served in the United States military in World War II in Europe, earning a Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster.^[3] At the war's conclusion, Rasmussen attended Gettysburg College, earning a Bachelor of Science in 1948.^[3] He then went on to medical school at Harvard University, earning his medical degree in 1952, followed by training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.^[3] Rasmussen then spent 1955–1956 as a research fellow at University College London, before returning to the US to pursue a PhD – which he was awarded by Rockefeller University in 1959.^[3][2]

Following his PhD, Rasmussen stayed for a short time at Rockefeller as an assistant professor, before being hired away by the University of Wisconsin, Madison as an associate professor in 1961.^[3] He later moved again to join the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as the Benjamin Rush Professor and Chair of Biochemistry.^[3] In 1976, Rasmussen moved to Yale University where he served as Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology as well as Chief of the Endocrinology and Metabolism section at Yale Medical School.^[3] In 1993, Rasmussen moved to the Medical College of Georgia to found and direct the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics.^[3] He retired in 2000.^[3]

Rasmussen was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1985.^[4]

Rasmussen's research focused on hormone signaling, particularly parathyroid hormone, aldosterone, and insulin.^[3] He was among the first to appreciate the role of calcium as a cellular second messenger.^[3]

Rasmussen married Jane Spence in 1952, and they remained married until her death in 1999. They had four children.^[3] He died on April 20, 2005, in Charlotte, North Carolina following a prolonged illness.^[3][1]