Van Rensselaer Potter
Van Rensselaer Potter II (August 27, 1911 – September 6, 2001) was an American biochemist, oncologist, and bioethicist. Born in northeast South Dakota, Potter was professor of oncology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for more than five decades.[1]
Potter is known for coining the widely used term bioethics in 1970, however, German theologian Fritz Jahr had previously coined the term in the 1920s.[2] Peter Whitehouse describes Potter's formulation of bioethics as a "wise integration of biology and values", which arose from his work as a cancer researcher and from the influence of faculty member Aldo Leopold at the University of Wisconsin.[3]
Bioethics is linked to environmental ethics and is separate from biomedical ethics.[4] Because of this confusion (and appropriation of the term in medicine), Potter chose to use the term in 1988.[5]
Awards[]
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Awards (1981)
- Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry (1947)
- List of Ten Outstanding Young Americans (1945)
Publications[]
Popular[]
- Bioethics: Bridge to the Future (Prentice-Hall, 1971)
- Global Bioethics: Building on the Leopold Legacy (Michigan State Univ Pr 1988) ISBN 0-87013-264-4
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Trosko, J. E., & Pitot, H. C. (2003). In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Van Rensselaer Potter II (1911–2001). Cancer Research, 63, 1724. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ Muzur, A. & I. Rinčić. (2015). Two kinds of globality: a comparison of Fritz Jahr and Van Rensselaer Potter's bioethics. Global Bioethics, 26:1, 23-27. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ Whitehouse, P. (2001). In Memoriam: Van Rensselaer Potter: The Original Bioethicist. The Hastings Center Report, 31(6), 12-12. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Pitot, H. C., Drinkwater, N. R., & Kasper, C. B. (2002, April 1). Memorial Resolution of the Faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the Death of Professor Emeritus Van Rensselaer Potter II. McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ Cascais, A.F. (1997). Bioethics: History, Scope, Object. Global Bioethics. 10:1-4, 9-24. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
Further reading[]
- Lower, G. (2001). Van Rensselaer Potter—Ad memoriam. Global Bioethics, 14(4), 31–32. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- Whitehouse, P. J. (2002). Van Rensselaer Potter: An Intellectual Memoir. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 11(4), 331–334. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
| show Authority control  |
|---|
   | This article about an American biochemist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
- 1911 births
- 2001 deaths
- American biochemists
- People from South Dakota
- Global ethics
- Cancer researchers
- American biochemist stubs