Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging - Time Line

Bay Viewpoints Hopkins Bayview Research Campus

Volume 1, Number 1 Fall 1989

"Father of Gerontology" Honored

Just two months before Pearl Harbor in 1941, Dr. Nathan W. Shock, now NIH Scientist Emeritus, arrived in Baltimore and was charged with conducting studies of aging for the federal National Institute of Health (now NIH). He had just one technician to aid him. Today, there are more than 300 staff and guest scientists working in the Gerontology Research Center (GRC).

This June the Institutes honored Dr. Shock's contributions to this field by dedicating the Nathan W. Shock Laboratories of the National Institute on Aging, which is housed on the Bayview Campus. More than 200 people representing private industry, state and federal government and health organizations attended the event for the man many feel is the "father of gerontology." In addition to giving many scientists and physicians their first exposure to research on aging. Dr. Shock initiated the now world famous Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging in 1958 and helped to plan and then supervise the construction of the 190,000-square-foot GRC.

The plaque unveiled at the ceremony was inscribed with the words "The Nathan W. Shock Laboratories...dedicated to gerontology as a discipline." This plaque represents 48 years of Dr. Shock's leadership in a field that now commands the attention not only of researchers and physicians but the general public as well. Dr. Shock (right) and Dr. George R. Martin, NIA Scientific Director, share a light moment beside the plaque designating the Nathan W. Shock Laboratories of the National Institute on Aging.

Nathan W. Shock Laboratories -- Dedication Program

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