Fregly, Melvin J.

Physiologist, educator. Melvin J. Fregly was born in Patton, Pennsylvania, on May 26, 1925. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1952 from the University of Rochester in New York. In 1956 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1960 and to Professor in 1965. He served as Acting Chair of the Department of Physiology for one academic year (1964-1965), and from 1967 until 1971 he served as Assistant Dean for Graduation Education at the College of Medicine.

His primary area of research was the endocrinological and nutritional aspects of hypertension (high blood pressure), body temperature regulation, behavior, and fluid and electrolyte balance. His studies involved catecholamines, oral contraceptives, tryptophan, salt preference and appetite, thirst and drinking, altitude, cold-induced hypertension, the adrenal gland, and the hormones aldosterone and angiotensin II. Dr. Fregly died in 1996.

Physiologist, educator. Melvin J. Fregly was born in Patton, Pennsylvania, on May 26, 1925. He was educated in Patton public schools and graduated valedictorian of his 1943 class at Patton High School. Following graduation, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and served for the next three years in the Southeast Pacific Theater during World War II, including New Guinea, the Philippine Islands, and Japan.

Following military service, Fregly enrolled at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1952 from the University of Rochester in New York. He accepted a position as Instructor in Physiology at Harvard Medical School and remained in the position until 1956, at which time he was appointed Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Fregly was promoted to Associate Professor in 1960 and to Professor in 1965. He served as Acting Chair of the Department of Physiology for one academic year (1964-1965), and from 1967 until 1971 he served as Assistant Dean for Graduation Education at the College of Medicine. In 1979, the University of Florida honored him with the title of Graduate Research Professor.

His primary area of research was the endocrinological and nutritional aspects of hypertension (high blood pressure), body temperature regulation, behavior, and fluid and electrolyte balance. Several of his studies investigated certain factors, such as catecholamines or chronic ingestion of oral contraceptives, which might induce hypertension. Other experiments focused on those agents, such as tryptophan, which might protect against the development of hypertension. Another major research area examined behavior, specifically the preference for salt, the mechanisms controlling salt appetite, and excessive ingestion of salt that might lead to hypertension. His studies in this area focused on the adrenal gland and its hormone, aldosterone, as well as the hormone, angiotensin II. Related research activities included thirst and drinking, altitude, and cold-induced hypertension. Dr. Fregly authored or co-authored more than 500 publications, including four books, and contributed chapters to over 50 books.

He was a member of several professional societies including the American Physiological Society, the Canadian Physiological Society, the Endocrine Society, the American Thyroid Association, the American Heart Association, and the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. He served as consultant to the Strasenburgh Pharmaceutical Company (1965-1967) and to the National Institutes of Health as a member of the Respiration and Applied Physiology Study Section (1987-1991). In the early 1990s, he served on the American Institute of Biological Sciences' Advisory Panel for NASA, the NASA Regulatory Physiology Discipline Working Group, and the Space Station Science and Advisory Subcommittee to NASA.

Dr. Fregly died in 1996.