Grant L. Rasmussen Papers

Grant L. Rasmussen was born on July 22, 1904 in Cleveland, Utah. His academic path to becoming Chief, Section of functional Neuroanatomy, Laboratory of Neuroanatomical Sciences, in the division of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness of the National Institutes of Health (NINBD), began with a strong interest in research and anatomy as a premedical student. Rasmussen was a premedical student at the University of Utah, graduating in 1928 with a major in Zoology. His keen aptitude for research led him to a teaching fellowship at the University of Minnesota Medical School in the Department of Anatomy, where he improved his research skills under Andrew T. Rasmussen (no relation) in the field of neuroanatomy. It was here that Rasmussen developed his long term interest in studying the auditory system and its pathways.

He completed his masters and doctoral work at the University of Minnesota, concluded with his dissertation entitled "The Origin, Course, and Destination of the Olivary Peduncle and the Fiber Projection of the Superior Olivary Complex." After leaving the University of Minnesota, he accepted the position as Instructor at the Medical College at the State of South Carolina and later held the positions of Associate Professor (1936-1940) and Assistant Professor (1940). In 1943, Rasmussen accepted a position at the University of Buffalo in the Department of Anatomy, and in 1954 he began his career with NINBD/NIH.

Among his most memorable contributions is his discovery and description of a nerve tract, called Rasmussen's Bundle, which is responsible for changing the sensitivity of the inner ear. In 1965, three NIH scientists received European awards for their scientific achievements. Rasmussen was awarded the Docteur Honoris Causa degree by the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) for his research achievements on the auditory system. This distinguished award was followed with another, the Beltone Institute Award in 1976 for scientific progress in understanding the central aspects of auditory centrifugal control. He retired from the National Institutes of Health in 1970.

Dr. Rasmussen was a member of The American Association of Anatomists and a founding member of the Cajal Club, created by anatomists with an interest in neuroanatomy and named after Don Santiago Cajal.