Harold Leslie Atwood

Background

Harold Leslie Atwood was born on February 15, 1937, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Carl Edmond Atwood and Margaret Dorothy Killam Atwood. His father was a professor and forest entomologist whose work took the family to different parts of Canada, including northern Ontario. Atwood grew up in a family that included his younger sister, the writer Margaret Atwood, and his younger sister Ruth Atwood.

Education

Atwood studied biology at the University of Toronto, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959. He continued at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Master of Arts degree in 1960. The Berkeley program placed his training within a major American center of biological and scientific research.

He completed doctoral work at the University of Glasgow, receiving a Ph.D. in 1963 and a Doctor of Science degree in 1979. His later doctoral research concerned crustacean neuromuscular systems, a field that became central to his scientific career. He also undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Oregon and the California Institute of Technology, working in the comparative and experimental traditions of neurophysiology.

Career

Atwood began his research career as a research associate at the University of Oregon in Eugene from 1962 to 1964. He then worked as a research fellow in biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena from 1964 to 1965. These appointments preceded his long association with the University of Toronto and extended his training in comparative neurophysiology.

In 1965, Atwood joined the University of Toronto as an assistant professor in zoology. He became an associate professor in 1968 and a professor in 1972. His research examined muscular contraction, motor control, neuromuscular transmission, and the structure and function of synapses, particularly in crustaceans and insects. Invertebrate preparations provided relatively large and accessible motor neurons and muscle cells for investigating mechanisms relevant to broader nervous-system physiology.

Atwood served as Chair of the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine from 1981 to 1991. The department had a distinguished Canadian history that included the discovery of insulin in 1921, and during Atwood's chairmanship it remained an important center for physiological research and medical education. He introduced neuroscience teaching in zoology and physiology and supervised graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

He was a visiting Forchheimer Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1987–1988. At the University of Toronto, he directed the Medical Research Council of Canada Research Group in Nerve Cells and Synapses from 1991 to 2000. He retired from regular academic service in 2002 and subsequently held the status of Professor Emeritus while continuing scholarly and research-related activities.

Achievements

• Atwood's research clarified the structure, function, and adaptive modification of synapses in crustacean and insect neuromuscular systems, helping establish invertebrate preparations as important models for studying synaptic transmission and plasticity.

• He introduced neuroscience teaching in the University of Toronto's zoology and physiology programs and supervised graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who continued careers in universities and research institutions internationally.

• He edited volumes 3 and 4 of Biology of Crustacea and contributed to the development of comparative approaches linking crustacean neuromuscular physiology with general principles of nervous-system function.

Works

• journal article

  • Inverse Relationship between Release Probability and Readily Releasable Vesicles in Depressing and Facilitating Synapses

    (Co-authored study comparing synaptic vesicle availability...)

    2002
  • Synaptic Structure and Transmitter Release in Crustacean Phasic and Tonic Motor Neurons

    (Research concerning structural and functional differences...)

  • Variation in physiological properties of crustacean motor synapses

    (Research article examining physiological diversity among ...)

    1967
  • Synaptic vesicles: test for a role in presynaptic calcium regulation

    (Co-authored investigation of synaptic vesicles and presyn...)

    2004

• review article

  • Diversification of synaptic strength: presynaptic elements

    (Review co-authored with Shanker Karunanithi on presynapti...)

    2002

Membership

Atwood belonged to major professional organizations in physiology, zoology, and neuroscience, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Neuroscience, the Canadian Society of Zoologists, the American Physiological Society, the Canadian Physiological Society, and the Canadian Association for Neuroscience. His professional service included editing the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology from 1987 to 1991 and serving as president of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience from 1993 to 1995.

His fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada placed him within Canada's national academy of arts, humanities, and sciences. The society recognized his work in animal biology and crustacean neuromuscular systems.

• Elected Fellow of the Academy of Science.

  Royal Society of Canada , Canada

  1982 - present

• Elected Fellow.

  American Association for the Advancement of Science , United States

  1981 - present

• Society for Neuroscience , United States

• Received the F. E. J. Fry Medal in 1997.

  Canadian Society of Zoologists , Canada

• American Physiological Society , United States

• Served as editor of the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology from 1987 to 1991.

  Canadian Physiological Society , Canada

• Served as president from 1993 to 1995.

  Canadian Association for Neuroscience , Canada

Connections

Atwood married Lenore Gertrude Mendelson on December 23, 1959. They have three sons, David, Robert, and Evan Atwood.

His father, Carl Edmond Atwood, was a professor and forest entomologist. His sister Margaret Atwood became an internationally known Canadian writer, and his sister Ruth Atwood was born in 1951.

Father:

Carl Edmond Atwood

Professor and forest entomologist.

Mother:

Margaret Dorothy Killam Atwood

Wife:

Lenore Gertrude Mendelson

Married Harold Leslie Atwood on December 23, 1959.

Son:

David Atwood

Son:

Robert Atwood

Son:

Evan Atwood

Sister:

Margaret Atwood

Canadian writer.

Sister:

Ruth Atwood

Born in 1951.

References

• University of Toronto Department of Physiology profile Documents Atwood's education, research interests, University of Toronto career, chairmanship of the Department of Physiology, neuroscience teaching, and major honors.
• Royal Society of Canada member profile Documents his election as a Fellow in 1982, research in crustacean neuromuscular systems, and scientific contributions.
• Canadian Association for Neuroscience honorary member profile Documents his academic training, University of Toronto career, research on arthropod and mammalian neuromuscular systems, teaching, administration, and professional honors.
• Canadian Science and Technology Museum scientist profile Describes Atwood's work on synaptic transmission, invertebrate nervous systems, crustacean neuromuscular physiology, scientific editing, and honors.
• Fifty years my mentor: Harold Atwood Mentor profile describing Atwood's education, postdoctoral training, University of Toronto career, research, awards, and professional leadership.
  2018