Perrin Hamilton Long

Background

Perrin Hamilton Long was born on April 7, 1899 in Bryan, Ohio, United States. He was the son of James Wilkinson Long, a physician, and of Wilhelmina Lillian Kautsky.

Education

Long graduated from Bryan High School in 1916. Then he entered the University of Michigan, but left in 1917. In 1919 he returned to the University of Michigan, and in 1924 he received the Bachelor of Science and the Doctor of Medicine degrees.

Career

In 1917 Long joined the American Field Service as an ambulance driver in France. When the United States entered the war, Long enlisted in the army, thus beginning an association with the military forces that continued, with occasional interruptions, throughout a great part of his career.

In 1919 Long returned to the University of Michigan. In 1924 he received the Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees. He spent the next three years in Boston, the first as a fellow at the Thorndyke Memorial Laboratory and the remainder as an intern and resident physician at the Boston City Hospital. In 1927 he spent several months as a voluntary assistant at the Hygienic Institute in Freiburg, Germany, before joining the staff of the Rockefeller Institute. There, under the aegis of Simon Flexner and Peter Olitski, Long began his work in the field of infectious diseases.

In 1929 he joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Medical School. At Johns Hopkins, Long began his studies with Dr. Eleanor Bliss on the sulfonamide drugs, of which he had learned in England in 1936. He and Bliss reported their preliminary laboratory and clinical findings in the autumn of that year. In 1940, Long was made professor and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins.

World War II interrupted Long's academic pursuits. Because of his knowledge of the chemotherapy of infections, he was one of a small group of consultants flown to Pearl Harbor to advise the government on the care of casualties following the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He returned to active duty in the army in 1942, and served as a medical consultant in the African and Mediterranean theaters of operation. Long retired from active military service with the rank of colonel.

After the war Long returned to Johns Hopkins to teach and to continue his investigations of antimicrobial drugs. In 1951 he became chairman of the Department of Medicine of the newly organized State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. There he turned his energies to teaching and administration, for which he had an extraordinary capacity. He also served in many consultative capacities, working for the National Research Council, the Veterans Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Public Health Service, and the U. S. Army, which promoted him to the rank of brigadier general in the reserves. In addition, he was editor of Medical Times and Resident Physician. In 1958 a laryngectomy forced temporary curtailment of his activities, but Long was soon back at his busy routine. Although he could communicate well with an artificial larynx, he felt that he had become a less effective teacher. He retired from academic life in 1961, but continued his two editorships. He traveled widely and wrote on both the scientific and the sociological aspects of medicine.

Achievements

• Long was a pioneer in the sulfonamide drugs studies. His work on the sulfonamides as the first safe and effective antibacterial drugs effected a virtual revolution in the management of bacterial infections and brought him a rapid recognition. Long served with distinction during the war period. In World War I, he served in France and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1918 for bravery in action. In recognition of service to the Allies in World War II, he received the Legion of Merit and an honorary Order of the British Empire in 1945. He was also made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1951.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A-B-C's of Sulfonamide and Antibiotic Therapy

    (A-B-C's of Sulfonamide and Antibiotic Therapy by Perrin H...)

  • The Clinical and Experimental Use of Sulfanilamide, Sulfapyridine and Allied Compounds
  • Second Conference on Sulfonamides (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 69, Art 3 Pages 377-524)

Membership

In 1946 Long was elected to the Royal College of Physicians.

Personality

Long was a firm believer in individualism and in accomplishment through hard work. He was one of the new generation of medical academicians who spent their entire careers as teachers and investigators. He possessed both physical and intellectual courage, and never veered from his convictions if he believed them to be right.

Interests

• Long enjoyed gardening, bird-watching, fishing and hunting.

Connections

On September 6, 1922, Long married Elizabeth D. Griswold. They had two children.

Father:

James Wilkinson Long

physician

Mother:

Wilhelmina Lillian Kautsky

Spouse:

Elizabeth D. Griswold