{{Short description|American biologist and geneticist}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2013}}{{Infobox scientist | name = Curt Paul Richter | birth_date = 20 February 1894 | birth_place = Denver, Colorado, United States | death_date = 21 December 1988 | death_place = Baltimore, Maryland | alma_mater = [[Harvard University]]<br />[[Johns Hopkins University]] | awards = [[Karl Spencer Lashley Award]] {{small|(1980)}}<ref name="Lashley-APS" /> }}
'''Curt Paul Richter''' (February 20, 1894 – December 21, 1988) was an American [[biologist]], [[psychobiologist]] and [[geneticist]] who made important contributions in the field of [[circadian rhythm]]s. Notably, Richter identified the [[hypothalamus]] as a "biological pacemaker" involved in sleeping and wakefulness. In particular, this region suspected by Richter was later identified as the [[suprachiasmatic nucleus]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Schulkin|first=Jay|date=1989|title=In honor of a great inquirer: Curt Richter| url= https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03337826.pdf|journal=Psychobiology|volume=17|issue=2|pages=113–114|doi=10.3758/BF03337826|s2cid=142406318}}</ref><ref name="NAS-Memoir">{{cite book |last=Schulkin |first=Jay |title=Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |chapter=Curt P. Richter |chapter-url=https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/richter-curt.pdf |year=1994 |volume=65}}</ref>
== Early life, family and education == Richter was born on February 20, 1894, in [[Denver]], Colorado, to German immigrants from [[Saxony]], Germany. Richter's father was an engineer who owned a steel and iron firm in Denver.
In 1912, Richter studied engineering at a [[Technische Hochschule]] in Germany, but he left after the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914, switching to [[Harvard University]] where he studied biology under [[William E. Castle]]. Due to Richter's lack of experience with biology, Castle advised that he drop the course, so he switched to psychology instead, studying under [[E. B. Holt]] and [[Robert Yerkes]]. He graduated from Harvard in 1917 and, after a brief tour in the [[United States Army]], studied under [[John B. Watson|John Watson]] at [[Johns Hopkins University]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Curt Paul Richter {{!}} American biologist| url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Curt-Paul-Richter| website= Encyclopedia Britannica |language= en| access-date=2020-04-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blass |first1=Elliott M. |title=Curt Paul Richter: 1894-1988 |journal=The American Journal of Psychology |date=1991 |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=143–146 |jstor= 1422856 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/1422856 |access-date=28 April 2021 |issn= 0002-9556}}</ref>
==Work== Richter induced need states in experimental animals by depriving them of substances essential to survival, or manipulating their [[hormone]] levels. He showed that these need states generate appetites, and behaviors precisely fitting the animal's need even if the animal had never before experienced the need; demonstrating genetic programming of behavior. He also triggered other pre-programmed behaviors, such as nest building, by manipulating hormone levels.<ref name="Denton2006">{{cite book| first=Derek | last= Denton|author-link= Derek Denton|title=[[The Primordial Emotions|The Primordial Emotions: The Dawning of Consciousness]]| date=8 June 2006| page= 51| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn= 978-0-19-920314-7}}</ref>
==Awards and honors== Richter received the [[Howard Crosby Warren]] Medal of the [[Society of Experimental Psychologists]] in 1950.<ref>{{cite web |title=Warren Medal Recipients |url=https://www.sepsych.org/warren-medal-recipients/ |website=Society of Experimental Psychologists |access-date=13 May 2026}}</ref> the [[APA Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology]] in 1957,<ref>{{cite web |title=Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychology |url=https://www.apa.org/about/awards/scientific-contributions |website=American Psychological Association |access-date=13 May 2026}}</ref> and the [[Karl Spencer Lashley Award]] of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1980.<ref name="Lashley-APS">{{cite web |title=Karl Spencer Lashley Award |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/prizes/karl-spencer-lashley-award |website=American Philosophical Society |access-date=13 May 2026}}</ref>
Richter was elected to the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1948,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Curt P. Richter | publisher = National Academy of Sciences |url= http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/51236.html |website= nasonline.org |access-date= 2022-12-08}}</ref> the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1956,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Curt Paul Richter |url= https://www.amacad.org/person/curt-paul-richter |access-date=2022-12-08 |website= amacad.org | publisher= American Academy of Arts and Sciences |language=en}}</ref> and the American Philosophical Society in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url= https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Curt+Richter&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |website=search.amphilsoc.org | publisher = American Philosophical Society| access-date=2022-12-08 }}</ref>
The International Society of [[Psychoneuroendocrinology]] established the Curt P. Richter Prize in his honor in 1979, funded by the Irish Foundation for Human Development, to recognize an outstanding manuscript by a younger scientist in psychoneuroendocrinology.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Curt P. Richter Prize in Psychoneuroendocrinology |journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism |date=April 1979 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=617 |doi=10.1210/jcem-48-4-617}}</ref> Now known as the Dirk Hellhammer Award following a 2021 renaming, the prize is awarded annually to an early-career investigator in psychoneuroendocrinology.<ref name="ISPNE-DHA">{{cite web |title=Dirk Hellhammer Award |url=https://www.ispne.net/dirk-hellhammer-award |website=International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology |access-date=13 May 2026}}</ref>
==In popular culture== Richter is quoted widely for his drowning rat experiments,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richter |first1=Curt |title=On the phenomenon of sudden death in animals and man |url=https://www.aipro.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/phenomena_sudden_death.pdf |journal=Psychosom. Med. |date=1957 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=191–8 |doi=10.1097/00006842-195705000-00004 |pmid=13432092 }}</ref> where rats would drown in a fairly short time without attempting to swim. But if rats had repeated experiences of rescue (or of being held briefly and then freed) they "do not die", and "show no signs of giving up". As described in the paper:
<blockquote> Support for the assumption that the sudden death phenomenon depends largely on emotional reactions to restraint or immersion comes from the observation that after elimination of the hopelessness the rats do not die. This is achieved by repeatedly holding the rats briefly and then freeing them, and by immersing them in water for a few minutes on several occasions. In this way the rats quickly learn that the situation is not actually hopeless; thereafter they again become aggressive, try to escape, and show no signs of giving up. Wild rats so conditioned swim just as long as domestic rats or longer. </blockquote>
This has been interpreted as an argument for the importance of [[hope]] and recirculates on the Internet regularly.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/biblio/Richter,%20Curt%20P..htm ''Medical Archives''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612142357/http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/biblio/Richter,%20Curt%20P..htm |date=2010-06-12 }} * {{Biographical Memoirs|richter-curt}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Curt}} [[Category:1894 births]] [[Category:1988 deaths]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni]] [[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]] [[Category:20th-century American biologists]] [[Category:American geneticists]] [[Category:Scientists from Denver]] [[Category:20th-century United States Army personnel]] [[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:APA Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology recipients]]
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