Biography of Otto Egon Lowenstein

Otto Egon Lowenstein was senior Lecturer of Zoology at the University from 1938 until 1952.

Born and educated in Munich, Germany, Lowenstein was a student of zoologist Karl von Frisch, and came to the UK in 1933 with a DPhil from the University of Munich (1932). After being awarded a PhD from Birmingham University in 1937, Lowenstein became an assistant lecturer at Exeter University College in 1937, before taking up a lectureship at the University of Glasgow under Professor Edward Hindle. Lowenstein made a significant contribution to the Zoology department during the war years in both his research, including electrophysiological studies of fish, and his teaching. He graduated DSc 1951 with his thesis "Studies on the function of the vertebrate labyrinth."

Lowenstein returned to Birmingham University in 1952 as Mason Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at the Neurocommunications Research Unit (1952-74), and was elected to the Royal Society in 1955. His lifelong research on the labyrinth of fish has been recognised by that Society as having provided much of our understanding of the organs of equilibrium in the ear, the semicircular canals and otolith organs.

Summary

Otto Egon Lowenstein
Born 24 October 1906.
Died 31 January 1999.
University Link: Alumnus, Lecturer, Researcher
GU Degree: DSc, 1951; Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences,
Occupation categories: physiologists; zoologists
View Additional Information
Record last updated: 24th Oct 2012

University Connections

University Roles

• Alumnus
• Lecturer
• Researcher