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COLLECTION Identifier: H MS c403

Manfred L. Karnovsky papers

Overview

The Manfred L. Karnovsky papers, 1925-1998 (inclusive), 1950-1998 (bulk), are a product of Karnovsky’s research, teaching, and professional activities throughout the period of his service at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, as Research Associate, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Harold T. White Professor, and Harold T. White Professor Emeritus.

Dates

  • Creation: 1925-1998 (inclusive),
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1950-1998 .

Creator

Language of Materials

Papers are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Access requires advance notice. Access to personal, patient, and student information is restricted for 80 years from the date of creation. These restrictions are noted where they appear in Series I, II, and III. Access to Harvard University records is restricted for 50 years from the date of creation. These restrictions are noted where they appear in Series I and II. Researchers may apply for access to restricted records. Consult Public Services for further information.

Access to electronic records in this collection (as found in Series I) is premised on the availability of a computer station, requisite software, and/or the ability of Public Services staff to review records of interest in advance of an on-site visit. Consult Public Services for further information. The Papers are stored offsite. Researchers are advised to consult Public Services for further information concerning retrieval of material.

Conditions Governing Use

The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all materials in the collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting any third-party copyright holders for permission to reproduce or publish. For more information on the Center's use, publication, and reproduction policies, view our Reproductions and Use Policy.

Extent

9.3 cubic feet ( (9 records center cartons and 3 oversize flat storage boxes))

The Manfred L. Karnovsky papers, 1925-1998 (inclusive), 1950-1998 (bulk), are a product of Karnovsky’s research, teaching, and professional activities throughout the period of his service at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, as Research Associate, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Harold T. White Professor, and Harold T. White Professor Emeritus. The papers are arranged in four series: I. Subject Files (1925-1998, undated); II. Harvard University Records (1948-1997, undated); III. Professional Activities Files (1980-1993, undated); and IV. Writings and Publications (1946-1997, undated).

Series I (Subject Files) constitutes the bulk of the collection, and consists of: correspondence related to Manfred Leslie Karnovsky’s administrative and teaching responsibilities at Harvard Medical School; research notes and related correspondence concerning the biochemistry of sleep, phagocytosis, and complex lipids; manuscript drafts and reprints of his scientific papers; meeting minutes, reports, and related correspondence pertaining to Karnovsky’s service on various Harvard University and Harvard Medical School committees; and meeting minutes, reports, and related correspondence pertaining to his service in professional organizations and committees, including the China-United States Biochemistry Examination Application (CUSBEA) Program and the Council for Tobacco Research Scientific Advisory Board. Subject Files also include: United States patent applications for Karnovsky’s research on the biochemistry of sleep, and a 3.5 inch floppy disk with unknown contents, which was unable to be opened.

Series II (Harvard University Records) contains: Harvard Medical School course curricula, lectures, prepared examination questions, and related correspondence; 35-millimeter lecture slides related to biological chemistry; Harvard Medical School Department of Biological Chemistry meeting minutes and reports; and meeting minutes, reports, and correspondence from Manfred Leslie Karnovsky's service on multiple Harvard University and Harvard Medical School committees related to curriculum, admissions, and student honors. Series III (Professional Activities Files) contains meeting minutes, reports, and correspondence from his service in numerous professional organizations. Series IV (Writings and Publications) primarily contains a collection of Karnovsky’s scientific paper reprints concerning the biochemistry of sleep, phagocytosis, enzymes, leukocytes, and other areas of biochemistry. Writings and publications also contain: a bound copy of Karnovsky’s doctoral thesis, “Studies of the Unsaponifiable Fraction of Lipins derived from Marine Sources,” submitted to the University of Cape Town, South Africa; bibliography index cards for an unidentified scientific paper concerning sleep; and six print blocks of scientific illustrations and graphs.

Papers are entirely in English.

Biographical Notes

Manfred Leslie Karnovsky (1918-1999), B.Sc., 1940, M.Sc., 1942, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, Ph.D., 1946, University of Capetown, South Africa, was Harold T. White Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Emeritus at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout his career, his research focused on multiple areas of biological chemistry, particularly the biochemistry of sleep, the biochemical basis of phagocytosis, and the biochemistry of complex lipids.

Manfred Leslie Karnovsky was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1918. He received his B.Sc. and his M.Sc. from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1940 and 1942, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Capetown, South Africa in 1946. He served one year as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, before coming to Harvard Medical School in 1948 as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biological Chemistry. His subsequent appointments at Harvard Medical School include Research Associate in Biological Chemistry (1949-1952), Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry (1952-1958), Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry (1958-1962), Professor of Biological Chemistry (1962-1965), Harold T. White Professor of Biological Chemistry (1965-1989), and Harold T. White Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Emeritus (1989-1999). Karnovsky also served two terms as Chairman of the Department of Biological Chemistry (1969-1973 and 1975-1976), and one term as Chairman of the Harvard University Committee on Biological Sciences (1982-1985).

Karnovsky’s research focused on the biochemical aspects of sleep, the biochemical basis of phagocytosis, and the biochemistry of complex lipids, among other areas of biochemistry. He collaborated with John Pappenheimer (1915-2007) in his study of the sleep inducing agents in infection, and the molecules involved in humoral regulation during sleep. He served as Secretary and Communications Secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and also served on numerous boards and committees, including the National Research Council Subcommittee on Nomenclature of Biological Chemistry and the Council for Tobacco Research Scientific Advisory Board. Karnovsky also served as an Interviewer for the China-United States Biochemistry Examination and Application (CUSBEA) Program, which sought to place Chinese biochemistry graduate students in United States universities. His awards and honors include the Lederle Medical Faculty Award (1955), the Gold Medal of the International Reticuloendothelial Society (1966), and the Special Recognition Award of the Phagocyte Gordon Conference (1991). He published over two hundred scientific papers during his career.

Manfred Leslie Karnovsky married Ann Rosenblum, child psychologist, in 1953. He had one son, Daniel Philip Karnovsky. Karnovsky died on 7 December 1999, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Series and Subseries in the Collection

  1. I. Subject Files, 1925-1998, undated
  2. II. Harvard University Records, 1948-1997, undated
  3. ___A. Teaching Records, 1948-1995, undated
  4. ______ 1. Textual Teaching Records, 1948-1995, undated
  5. ______ 2. Visual Teaching Aids, 1965-1979, undated
  6. ___ B. Committee and Departmental Service Records, 1949-1997, undated
  7. III. Professional Activities Files, 1980-1993, undated
  8. IV. Writings and Publications, 1946-1997, undated

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Manfred L. Karnovsky papers were donated to the Harvard Medical Library by Ann Karnovsky in 1999 (Accession Number 1999-027).

Separations

The textbook, Manometric Techniques: a manual describing methods applicable to the study of tissue metabolism, 3rd edition (1957), by W.W. Umbreit, R.H. Burris, and J.F. Stauffer, was transferred to the Center's Rare Books Collection to be catalogued, April 2013.

Processing Information

Processed by Amber LaFountain, 2013 April.

Processing staff in the Center for the History of Medicine analyzed, arranged, and described the papers, and created a finding aid to improve access. Items were rehoused and, where necessary, photocopied to acid-free paper. Folder titles were transcribed from the originals when available; titles supplied by the processing staff appear in brackets only on the physical folders. Papers that did not meet the collecting policy of the Center for the History of Medicine were returned to the family. Duplicate reprints and meeting minutes already in the collection were discarded. Researchers should be aware that electronic files on the 3.5 inch floppy disk were not able to be copied, and the disk has been retained in its original location.

Title
Karnovsky, Manfred L. Papers, 1925-1998 (inclusive), 1950-1998 (bulk): Finding Aid.
Author
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine.
Language of description
und
Sponsor
Processing of the Manfred L. Karnovsky papers was funded by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine's Charles S. Minot Fund for Hematology.
EAD ID
med00178

Repository Details

Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository

The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.

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