Background
Weiss, Paul Alfred was born on March 21, 1898 in Vienna, Austria. Son of Carl S. and Rosalie M. (Kohm) Weiss. came to the United States, 1931, naturalized, 1939.
Weiss, Paul Alfred was born on March 21, 1898 in Vienna, Austria. Son of Carl S. and Rosalie M. (Kohm) Weiss. came to the United States, 1931, naturalized, 1939.
Doctor of Philosophy, University Vienna, 1922. Doctor of Medicine (honorary), University Frankfort, Germany, 1949. Doctor in Natural Sciences (honorary), University Giessen, 1957.
Doctor Medical and Surgical (honorary), University Helsinki, 1966. Doctor of Science (honorary), University Notre Dame, 1972. Doctor of Medicine (honorary), University Vienna, 1974.
A teacher, experimenter and theorist, he made a lasting contribution to science in his lengthy career, throughout which he sought to encourage specialists in different fields to meet and share insights. His background favoured music, poetry, and philosophy – Weiss himself was a violinist – but an uncle encouraged an interest in science. Weiss received his baccalaureate in 1916.
After the end of the First World War, having served for three years as an officer in the artillery, he commenced studies in mechanical engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna, (now Vienna University of Technology).
He then shifted his focus to biology with a minor in physics. After completing his thesis he traveled widely in Europe, becoming an assistant director of the Biological Research Institute of the Vienna Academy of Sciences.
His studies of limb regeneration in newts showed that a complete limb could regenerate even if particular tissue forms were removed from the stump: the required types of tissue would reform. He studied cell differentiation and the transplanting and reforming of connections in the nerves of limbs, using newts and frogs for his experiments.
He went on to consider neurobiology and morphogenesis.
He introduced the idea of the "natural experiment" – the quest for suggestive examples from nature – and this became a favourite teaching device. In 1930 a prospective post at the University of Frankfurt was lost due to the depression and Weiss moved to the United States of America. He took United States citizenship in 1939, publishing his Principles of Development the same year. From 1933 to 1954, after working briefly at Yale, he taught at the University of Chicago.
In his work on tissue cultures Weiss outlined several features of cell proliferation: he showed how cell-patterns are affected by their substrate and, through grafts, proved that basic neural patterns of coordination were self-differentiating rather than learned, though higher vertebrates can "retrain" reflexes.
During World War 2 he worked with the American government on nerve injury. In 1947 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
In 1954 he became one of the first professors at the new Rockefeller University in New York, where he remained for fifteen years. Paul Weiss was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
He died at White Plains, New York, on September 8, 1989, at the age of 91.
Official investigator charge Government War Research Project, 1942-1945. Special consultant United States High Commission, Germany, 1951. Chairman United States delegate International Union Biological Sciences, 1953, 55, 58, 61, International Council Science Unions, 1961.
Chiefsci. adviser United States commission general Brussels World's Fair, 1957-1958. Member of advisory board Institute Basic Research, University of California. Science advisory board Massachusetts General Hospital,1952-1955.
Member science advisory board Pacific Science Center, 1963-1989. Member international cell research organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Chairman division biology and agriculture National Research Council, 1951-1955, chairman biological county also Merck fellowship board.
Member Fulbright committee, 1949-1951. Trustee Fund for Neurobiology. Member corporation Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, Bermuda Biological Station.
Member science advising committee to President United States, 1958-1960, consultant Office Science and Technology, 1960-1989. County industrial R & D Governor New York State, 1960-1964. Science advisory board Seattle 1961 World's Fair.
Member of advisory board Council Advancement Medical Communication. Associate neuroscis.rsch. program Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Member of advisory board Mount Sinai Hospital and School Medicine.
Member board Lecomte de Nouy Foundation, 1968-1989. Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (vice president 1952-1953), International Institute Embryology (vice president 1949-1955). Member American Academy Arts and Sciences, American Society Naturalists, American Association Anatomists, American Society Zoologists, Harvey Society (president 1962-1963), Growth Society(president 1941-1942), International Society Cell Biology (president 1965-1968), International Union Biological Sciences (chairman policy board), National Academy Sciences (member county, governing board 1964-1967), Society Study Growth and Development (president 1941-1942), Royal Swedish, Serbian academics science, German Academy Science Leopoldina, Max-Planck Society, American Philosophical Society (Lewis prize 1971, Lashley award 1975), American Physiological Society, American Society Cell Biology, Association Research Nervous and Mental Diseases, Club of Rome, Literary Club, Cosmos Club, Phi Beta Kappa (honorary), Sigma Xi.
Son of and Rosalie M. (Kohm) W. Married Marie Helen Blaschka, January 30, 1926.