Fuller Albright

Abstract

The authors have been involved in the study of mineral metabolism for a good part of our academic careers. As such, we have admired, studied, and benefited from the scientific work and writings of Fuller Albright, whose productive career at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital spanned almost 30 yr from the late 1920s until 1956. The senior author, Charles Kleeman, was a house officer at Boston City Hospital in 1948 when he first read Fuller Albright's remarkable book Parathyroid Glands and Metabolic Bone Disease (1). This landmark publication summarized Albright's many contributions to mineral metabolism during the previous two decades. Our goal in this historical review is: 1) to describe Albright, the man and his life; 2) review some of his major research accomplishments; and 3) conclude by citing an appreciation of Albright by several of his coworkers and trainees. Fuller Albright was born in Buffalo, New York, on January 12, 1900. His father was a wealthy industrialist and philanthropist. The major art museum in Buffalo is known today as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Albright attended the Nichols School in Buffalo, which was founded by his father. He not only excelled academically, but also was captain of the football team. During his childhood, the Albright family made frequent visits to Wilmurt Lake in the Adirondacks, where he became an avid fly fisherman and developed woodsman's skills. During his academic years in Boston, Albright would spend summer vacations at Wilmurt Lake with his family. It was at Wilmurt Lake where he directed that his ashes be scattered after his death. Fuller Albright attended Harvard College, but after only 18 mo, he falsified his age and enlisted in the Army after America's entry into World War I. It was also the time of the great influenza pandemic, which has …