Irving London

Irving London was a longtime biology professor and expert in hemoglobin synthesis was committed to the integration of biomedical research, education, and medical practice. Dr. London begin his internship at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center after medical school in 1943. After his military service as captain in the Medical Corps, London returned to Columbia-Presbyterian as a medical resident, then as a research fellow in the department of biochemistry at Columbia University. In 1954, at age 36, Dr. London accepted the position of founding chair of the department of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York where he served as professor and chair of the department -- and directed medical services at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center -- from 1955 until 1970. He was a founding member and the first director of the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology -- now the longest surviving collaboration between Harvard and MIT -- from 1971 to 1985.