James B. Preston (February 4, 1926 – June 6, 2004) was an American neurophysiologist at State University of New York Upstate Medical University whose research was fundamental to discovering how our brains control movement. Over the course of his career, he published over forty research based articles in his field. Preston was the chairman of numerous national committees and former President of the Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology.
Early life and education Dr. Preston was born in Nelsonville, Ohio on February 4, 1926. His father, Benson Preston, was the Nelsonville Postmaster and his mother, Ruth Preston, was the public health nurse for the Nelsonville area. In 1944 he graduated from Nelsonville High School and went on to attend Ohio Wesleyan University from 1944-1945. His education was interrupted by military service. He served in Korea from 1945-1947 as a member of the Army Signal Corps and as a medic stationed on the 38th parallel. When he returned, he attended Ohio Wesleyan for another year and then enrolled at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine where he received his MD in 1952. He spent the next two years in a combined internship-research fellowship at the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
Career In 1954 Dr. Preston was hired as an instructor at the SUNY Upstate Medical University, and in 1956 he was named an assistant professor at Upstate. In 1960 at the age of 34, he was promoted to a full professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology where he remained for 31 years before he retired in 1991. In 1992 he became a professor emeritus at the SUNY Upstate Medical University. Preston’s scientific research centered on investigations into the neural basis of the control of movement. During his career, he published over forty research based articles in his field. His research was continuously funded by the National Institute of Health for over thirty-two years. Many of his graduate students and postdoctoral students went on to distinguished academic careers in the area of neural science. For over forty years, medical students benefited from his instruction. His papers are located in the Upstate Medical University Health Sciences Library’s Archives and Special Collections. A book containing his publications can be found in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine’s Donald C. Harrison Library. Books containing his publications can be found in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Donald C. Harrison Library and at the Ohio Wesleyan University's Beeghly Library.
Selected National and State Committees Preston served on numerous national and state committees including: Chairman, Physical and Molecular Biology Evaluation Conference-NIH, DRG (1968); Chairman, Physiology Training Committee-NIGMS, NIH (1971-1973); Chairman, Working Group on Pharmacology, National Advisory Committee on Multiple Sclerosis-USPHS (1973-1974); President, Association of Chairs of Departments of Physiology (1973-1974); Chairman, Subcommittee on Chemotherapeutic Agents, National Multiple Sclerosis Society (1975-1980); Chairman, Sponsored Research Advisory Committee, Research Foundation, SUNY (1982-1986); Conference Chair, Winter Conference on Brain Research (1987-1988); Director, Winter Conference on Brain Research (1989-1991).
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