Clayton Sam White

Clayton Samuel White or Sam White (October 11, 1912 in Fort Collins, Colorado – April 26, 2004 in Albuquerque) was an American physician at Lovelace Medical Center, who studied the effects of nuclear blasts and shock effects on people.

Clayton Samuel White M.D.
Born	October 11, 1912 Fort Collins, Colorado, US
Died	April 26, 2004 (aged 91) Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
Nationality	American
Education	University of Colorado
Occupation	medical doctor
Known for	discovered air embolism as cause of death in blast injury[1]
Relatives	Byron White, brother
Medical career
Institutions	Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute
Sub-specialties	aviation medicine, nuclear blast biology
Research	aging, memory loss, hypothermia, cosmic rays, geology and pollution of the upper atmosphere

Early life and education

White was born in Fort Collins, Colorado of Maude Elizabeth (Burger) and Alpha Albert White, farmers who ran a lumber yard, never attended high school, and prized education.[2] He grew up in nearby Wellington, Colorado, where his father was the mayor. He had one brother, five years younger, the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White.[3][4]

When White attended Wellington high school, he rented 25 acres to make money growing beets with his brother.[5]

He went to the University of Colorado Boulder on a scholarship, which the state offered to all Colorado high school valedictorians at the time, and studied psychology. He starred in football, and in 1934 graduated aged 22 years. He continued studying psychology and earned a baccalaureate in physiology at University of Oxford in England, which allowed him to start medical school at the University of Colorado upon returning. Graduating in 1942, he joined the Navy.[5]

Career

White did medical research on "oxygen masks, liquid oxygen converters, and other high-altitude equipment" during World War II at the Air Force's Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.[1] It was directed by William Randolph Lovelace II, a surgeon from the Mayo Clinic whom he became friends with. After the war Lovelace asked to join him at his uncle's Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1947 to start a foundation for research. He made White his first hire, and director of research [5] at what was then called the "Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research".

In 1951, White started "to study the blast and shock effects of big explosions" through their first big contract, by the Atomic Energy Commission.[1] He had no competition at the time, and found out, that blast effects were important even in nuclear explosions and dangerous. He developed mathematical formulas to explain the differential explosive effects had on buildings in 1961,[6] and coauthored 3 other major reports of the environmental consequences of nuclear explosions with a focus on early effects of blasts and radiation, the progression of an explosion, and graphs depicting the relationship between the effects of blasts and the distance of material from Ground Zero in 1960,[7] in 1964,[8] and a "Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer" in 1962.[9] In 1959, he and Lovelace performed the physical and psychological tests on the 32 original Project Mercury astronaut candidates, out of which 7 were chosen, including John Glenn.[2]

When, in 1965, Lovelace died, White succeeded him as director of the foundation.[5]

From 1974 to 1979 White was president of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, but he missed Albuquerque and returned.[5]

Personal life

White was married with Margaret Reeve for 62 years, and had two daughters Meredith, of Manhattan, Sharon, of Washington and one son, Stephen, of Nocona, Texas.[5] He died aged 91 of respiratory complications at Lovelace Medical Center.[2]

Honors

White was awarded the[10]

• State of New Mexico Distinguished Public Service award in 1973
• U.S. Air Force Exceptional Service Award in recognition of distinguished patriotic service from 1955 to 1960
• University of Colorado's Alumnus of the Century Award
• Dubious Achievement in Thermodynamics of Popping Corn, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Employee Council.

References

1. Oransky, I (2004). "Clayton Samuel White". Lancet. 363 (9424): 1913. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16381-2. PMID 15202486.
2. Paul Logan (April 30, 2004). "Eminent Biomedical Pioneer Most Proud of Family". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
3. Irish, Leon E. (Summer 2003). "Byron White: A Singular Life". Catholic University Law Review. 52: 883.
4. Hutchinson, Dennis J. (1998). "The Man Who Once was Whizzer White: Wellington". New York Times. (book excerpt). Retrieved January 30, 2018.
5. Martin, Douglas (May 2, 2004). "Sam White, 91, researcher on effects of A-Bombs, dies". New York Times. (obituary). Retrieved May 3, 2016.
6. Bowen, I. Gerald; Albright, Ray W.; Fletcher, E. Royce & White, Clayton S A Model Designed to Predict the Motion of Objects Translated by Classical Blast Waves Washington, D.C., U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 58 p, Jan 1961
7. Clayton S White Comparative nuclear effects of biomedical interest Washington, D.C., U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Biology and Medicine, 79pp, 1960
8. White, Clayton S.; Bowen, I. Gerald & Richmond, Donald R. Comparative Analysis of Some of the Immediate Environmental Effects at Hiroshima and Nagasaki Washington, D.C., U.S. Atomic Energy Commission79 p August 1964
9. Fletcher, E. Royce; Albright, Ray W, Perret, Robert F. D.; Franklin, Mary E, Bowen,I. Gerald, White, Clayton S. Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer (Including Slide-rule Design and Curve Fits for Weapons Effects) Washington, D.C., U.S. Atomic Energy Commission,82 p April 1962.
10. From the guide to the Clayton Samuel White Papers, 1932-1998, 1950-1980 Social Networks and Archival Context, accessed January 30, 2018

External links