Stellar, Eliot, 1919-1993

Eliot Stellar received his Bachelors degree from Harvard University in 1941 and his Masters degree from Brown University in 1942 specializing in the physiological brain process behind behavior. He served briefly in the National Defense Research Council investigating submarine crew selection and then with the Office of Strategic Services as a psychologist. He returned to Brown and graduated with his Ph.D. in 1947.

Stellar taught at Johns Hopkins from 1947 to 1960. He accepted a position as professor of physiological psychology with the University of Pennsylvania in 1960. In 1965, he was appointed director of the Institute of Neurological Sciences at the University. He served as Provost to the University from 1973 to 1978. In 1990, he accepted the offer for the appointment as chair of the Department of Anatomy, which was later renamed as the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. In addition to his career at the University, Stellar served on many professional committees and boards outside the University. In particular he headed the American Philosophical Society from 1987 to 1993 and served as chairman of the National Academy of Science Committee on Human Rights from 1983 until the end of his life.