Roger Wolcott Sperry

Biography

Roger Wolcott Sperry (August 20, 1913 – April 17, 1994) was an American neuropsychologist , neurobiologist , cognitive neuroscientist , and Nobel laureate who, together with David H. Hubel [ 1 ] and Torsten Nils Wiesel , won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work with split-brain research. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Sperry as the 44th most cited psychologist of the 20th century. [ 12 ] Sperry was born in Hartford, Connecticut , to Francis Bushnell and Florence Kraemer Sperry. His father was in banking, and his mother trained in business school. He was raised in an upper middle-class environment, which stressed academic achievement. [ 13 ] Roger had one brother, Russell Loomis. Their father died when Roger was 11. Afterwards, his mother became assistant to the principal in the local high school. Sperry went to Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut , where he was a star athlete in several sports, and did well enough academically to win a scholarship to Oberlin College . At Oberlin, he was captain of the basketball team, and he also took part in varsity baseball, football, and track. He also worked at a café on campus to help support himself. Sperry was an English major, but he took an Intro to Psychology class taught by a Professor named R. H. Stetson, who had worked with William James , the father of American Psychology. This class sparked Sperry's interest in the brain and how it can change. Stetson was disabled and had trouble getting around so Sperry would help him out by driving him to and from wherever he needed to go. This included taking Stetson to lunch with his colleagues. Sperry would just sit at the end of the table and listen to Stetson and his colleagues discuss their research and other psychological interests. This increased Sperry's interest in Psychology even more and after he received his undergraduate degree in English from Oberlin he Fields: Neuropsychology

About the Lasker Award

The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels."

Quick Facts

• Award: Lasker Award - Basic Medical Research
• Added: 2026-02-07
• Source: Wikipedia
• Established: 1946
• Presented by: Lasker Foundation

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