Alexander Gettler
| Alexander O. Gettler | |
|---|---|
Alexander Gettler (far right) and Charles Norris (seated, left) in the toxicology laboratory located on the third floor of the City Morgue, Bellevue Hospital c.1922
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| Born |
August 13, 1883 Austria-Hungary |
| Died | August 4, 1968 (aged 84) Yonkers, New York |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Occupation | Toxicologist |
| Known for | Pioneering in the field of toxicology |
Alexander Oscar Gettler (August 13, 1883 – August 4, 1968) was a toxicologist with the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York (OCME) between 1918 and 1959, and the first forensic chemist to be employed in this capacity by a U.S. city. His work at OCME with Charles Norris, the chief medical examiner, created the foundation for modern medicolegal investigation in the U.S. and Gettler has been described by peers as "the father of forensic toxicology in America."
The Alexander O. Gettler Award is a prize established in his name by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
Gettler was born Jewish in Galicia, Poland, a part of the Empire of Austria-Hungary in 1883. As Oscar Gettler, aged seven, he emigrated to the U.S. with his father, Joseph Gettler, and sister, Elise, on board the Red Star Line steamer, Westernland, which arrived at the Port of New York on May 6, 1891; they settled in Brooklyn, where he was raised. He studied at the City College of New York and in 1912 received his PhD in Biochemistry from Columbia University. Prior to his employment with OCME he worked as a clinical chemist at the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and taught Biochemistry at the New York University School of Medicine. He married Alice Gorman in 1912.
Charles Norris established the OCME in 1918 and set up his first offices in the Pathology Building (the 'City Morgue') of Bellevue Hospital. While there he asked Gettler if he would be willing to conduct any chemical testing that might be required to which Gettler agreed. An OCME laboratory, where testing was carried out for the presence of the common poisons, was set up on the third floor of the City Morgue building on First Avenue and 29th Street.
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