William Montagna

In 1927 at the age of 13, Guglielmo Montagna, whose father was a skilled blacksmith, emigrated from Italy with his family to Buffalo, New York.[1] At age 14 he became an American citizen and his first name was legally changed from "Guglielmo" to "William".[2] In later years he recounted that his first year in the U.S.A. was difficult because "a scuola, non riuscivo a capire neppure una parole inglese" (at school I couldn't understand a single word of English).[1] At Bethany College in West Virginia he graduated in 1936 with a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry. At Cornell University he graduated in 1944 with a Ph.D. in zoology.

From 1944 to 1945 Montagna was an instructor in ornithology and zoology.[3] From 1945 to 1948 he was an assistant professor at the Long Island College of Medicine (now part of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University). In 1948 he joined the faculty of Brown University.[1] There he became a full professor in 1952 and L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Biology in 1960. He left Brown University in 1963 to become a professor and head of experimental biology at Portland's Oregon Health Sciences University (now named the Oregon Health & Science University and director of Beaverton's Oregon Regional Primate Research Center[3] (now named the Oregon National Primate Research Center). He retired in 1980. He was the author or co-author of over 450 articles.[3]

His early descriptions of the hair cycle in murine skin are masterpieces of clarity, beauty, and penetrating observations ...[4]

He was the greatest anatomist of the skin in the last half of the 20th century, a worthy successor to his immortal Italian forbears, comparable in stature to Malpighi, Golgi, Corti, and Scarpa.
He prepared his histologic specimens with religious devotion and then rendered them with exquisite care into illustrations of great beauty. His fantastic eye for detail and his wonderment at the miraculous structural organization of the integument enabled him to construct a voluminous gallery of stunning bistologic photos. ... One of his last works, An Atlas of Human Skin, is a superb demonstration of his artistic talents.[3]

For the academic year 1969–1970 Montagna was the president of the Society for Investigative Dermatology (SDI).[5] In 1972 he received the SDI's Stephen Rothman Award for achievement in investigative dermatology.[3] In 1975 SDI established the annual William Montagna Lecture[3] and he was honored with the Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana.[1] At the University of Minnesota's Department of Medicine, he gave the 1975 Wesley Spink Memorial Lecture, entitled Non-human primates in biomedical research.[6]

On September 1, 1939 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, William Montagna married Helen Fife (1916–2008). They had two daughters and two sons and divorced in 1975. William Montagna married his second wife in 1980.

Montagna was a family friend of fellow Italian-American Antonella Tosti whom he inspired in her youth to become a notable dermatologist as well. [7]