- Person
- 1918-2008
Dr. Ray C. Anderson, MD, Ph.D, was born in Duluth, Minnesota in about 1918. He attended Gustavus Adolphus College where his undergraduate mentor Dr. J. Alfred Elson "helped him obtain a teaching assistant position at the University of Minnesota in the lab of Dr. C.P. Oliver, a leading geneticist. Anderson went on to complete his Ph.D. in Zoology (Genetics). Oliver encouraged him to apply to medical school to study the burgeoning field of medical genetics" (University of Minnesota, College of Biological Sciences: Biography, Spring 2008.)In 1946 Anderson recieved his medical degree from the University of Mainnesota, ranked first in his class.
After receiving his medical degree, Anderson accepted an internship at the University of Michigan Genetics Institute, where he met Dr. James Neel. In 1947 Dr. Anderson was obligated to enlist in the U.S. Army as a Medical Officer. In this capacity Dr. Anderson was asked by Dr. Neel if he would like to participate in a genetic study of survivors of the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima, Japan. Dr. Anderson was very interested in this research, and in November 1947 Anderson traveled to Japan to join the research team at the newly-formed Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission.
Anderson remained with the ABCC for two years. During this time he worked closely, though not always harmoniously, with Dr. Neel. Anderson contributed to a number of studies of the health of the survivors and children of the survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In 1949 Ray Anderson returned to the United States, where he gravitated towards the field of pediatric cardiology. He enjoyed a long and successful career in cardiology, and was a member of the surgical team at the University of Minnesota that preformed the very first open heart surgery. He published over 135 articles over the course of his career.
Dr. Ray Anderson enjoyed a long and distinguished medical career that spanned a number of years. The collection at the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center focuses on the brief period of Dr. Anderson's career from 1947 to 1949, when he worked with the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission.
Dr. Ray Anderson died May 20, 2008 in Sun City, Arizona, where he lived part of the year after his retirement from medicine in 1980.