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Rafael Lorente de Nó (April 8, 1902 – April 2, 1990) was an Spanish neuroscientist who advanced our understanding of the nervous system with his seminal research. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academies Press called him "one of the premier neurophysiologists in the United States".
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Life and career
Lorente de Nó was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He received his medical degree from the University of Madrid in 1923. He immigrated to the United States in 1931 when he accepted a position at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis. In 1936 he joined the Rockefeller University, then still better known as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Lorente de Nó was an active member of several academic societies, among them the American Physiological Society and the American Association of Anatomists.
Awards and Distinctions
Lorente de Nó was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1950, and later also to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received honorary degrees from several universities, among them Clark University, Atlanta, and his home university, Rockefeller University, but also from University of Uppsala, Sweden. His contributions to neuroscience were honored by the American Philosophical Society through the Karl Spencer Lashley Award in 1959; he was the first to receive this award. In 1986, he received the Award of Merit for his life's work.