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 Dr. Randolph Lovelace II was a pioneering physician who
served as Director of Space Medicine for Manned Space Flight at NASA. He also developed
a high-altitude oxygen mask, led a section of surgery at the prestigious Mayo
Clinic, screened male and female astronauts, and established the Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
His awards and honors included the Distinguished Flying Cross and induction
into the International Space Hall of Fame.
William Randolph "Randy" Lovelace II was born on December
30, 1907 in Springfield, Missouri. In 1926, he enrolled at Washington University
in St. Louis,
where he took flying lessons from the U.S. Naval Reserve. After completing his flight
instruction at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in North
Chicago, Illinois, Lovelace received
his B.A. from Washington
University in 1930. He then
enrolled at Harvard
Medical School,
earning an M.D. in 1934. For the next several years, Lovelace completed his
residency at New York's Bellevue Hospital,
where he served as a research assistant to Dr. Reginald Fritz, a physician who
had worked at the Mayo Clinic.
Mayo Fellow and Flight Surgeon
Randolph Lovelace followed Fritz's footsteps by moving to Minnesota in the summer
of 1936. There, he entered the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine as a fellow in
surgery. A year later, however, Lovelace took a two-month leave of absence to become
a flight surgeon and first lieutenant with the Army School of Aviation Medicine
at Randolph Field, Texas. After returning to Mayo, Lovelace
continued his education and earned the J. William White Award, an honor which
provided its recipient with a three-month tour of leading European surgical
centers.
After returning to the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Lovelace became
first assistant in surgery to Dr. Charles W. Mayo, son of the facility's
founder. An aviation enthusiast, Dr. Mayo told Lovelace about how friends from
Northwest Airlines were concerned about a growing number of plane crashes
worldwide. Although Mayo blamed pilot failure, Lovelace posited that the problem
was a product of improved airplanes which could fly at oxygen-scare high altitudes.
With his supervisor's encouragement, Lovelace then transferred
to the Mayo Clinic's oxygen research department. There, Randy Lovelace worked
with Drs. Walter M. Boothby and Arthur H. Bulbulian to develop a high-altitude
oxygen mask. Years later, President Lyndon B. Johnson would describe this work
as proof that "Dr. Lovelace is the kind of man who takes his work seriously".
Added Johnson, "I can only hope that Presidents are not put to any such test."
The Daredevil Doctor
In order to test the oxygen mask that he helped develop,
Randolph Lovelace joined the Army Air Corps, serving as head of the Aeromedical Laboratory (AML) at Wright Field. In what may have been the highest parachute jump ever attempted, Lovelace bailed out of a B-17 bomber over Ephrata, Washington at 40,200
feet. When Lovelace opened his parachute, however, the sudden deceleration of 8 Gs knocked
him unconscious. He lost a glove, and the sub-zero (- 40º F) temperature
caused his hand to become frostbitten. Fortunately, his oxygen mask helped keep him
alive. Lovelace regained consciousness at a lower altitude, landing almost 24
minutes after bailing out. Later, his stratospheric experience would contribute to
the development of automatic parachute-opening devices.
Named after its inventors, the "BLB oxygen mask" earned Dr.
W. Randolph Lovelace a share of the Collier trophy, a national award for contributions
to airplane safety; and the Distinguished Flying Cross, a military decoration
for heroism while participating in an aerial flight. Lovelace also parlayed his
research into a Master of Science (MS) dissertation at the University of Minnesota.
Entitled "Oxygen, Aviation and Surgery: A New and Practical Apparatus for its
Administration", the BLB oxygen mask helped Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots fight
the "Battle of Britain" long before the United States entered World War II, when
the mask was manufactured in mass quantities.
Editor's Note: Part 2 of this biography is now on CR4.
Resources:
http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.com/inside.asp?AID=3851&UID
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Lovelace_II
http://astronautical.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=73
http://library2.usask.ca/vietnam/index.php?state=view&id=468
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=26169
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=3535783&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google
http://www.oit.edu/Default.aspx?DN=3afb388e-56a6-4386-80d6-4dcb1f58ee29
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