Denham Harman
| Denham Harman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 14, 1916 San Francisco, California |
| Died | November 25, 2014 (aged 98) Omaha, Nebraska |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Free radical theory of aging |
Denham Harman (February 14, 1916 – November 25, 2014), MD, PhD, FACP, FAAA biogerontologist, was Professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Harman is widely known as the "father of the free radical theory of aging".
Born in San Francisco, he earned his BS and Ph.D. in 1943 from the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and his M.D. from Stanford University, finishing his internship in 1954.
Immediately after earning his Ph.D., in 1943, Harman joined the reaction kinetics department of Shell Oil in Emeryville, California. He worked for six years as a Shell research chemist, in part studying free radical reactions in petroleum products. During that period he was granted 35 patents, one for a compound used in plastic strips to kill flies ("Shell No Pest Strip").
Harman became fascinated with the phenomenon of aging, its cause and possible cure. To assist him in understanding this problem, he went to medical school at Stanford University. Harman became chair of cardiovascular research at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in 1958.
Harman was married to the same woman for most of his life, a journalism student whom he met at a fraternity dance while at the University of California. The couple had four children and four grandchildren. Harman maintained a healthy lifestyle throughout his life. He never smoked and drank alcohol in moderation. He ran two miles a day until he was 82. He quit because of a back injury, but he continued to take regular walks to help him maintain a weight of 140 pounds on his 5-foot-10 frame.
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