Farmacólogo estadunidense nascido em Whiting, Indiana, professor da University of Texas, Health Science Center Dallas, TX, USA, co-vencedor do Prêmio Nobel de Fisiologia e Medicina (1998) juntamente com Louis Ignarro da UCLA School of Medicine Los Angeles, CA, USA, e Robert Furchgott do SUNY Health Science Center Brooklyn, NY, USA, pelos seus trabalhos na descoberta das propriedades do monóxido de azoto. Obteve seu M.D. na Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH (1958-1965) e o Ph.D. no Department of Pharmacology, Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH (1958-1965).
Foi Professor do Depts of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, Univ of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA (1975-1981), diretor do Clinical Research Center, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (1971-1981), diretor da Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Dept. of Internal Medicine, Charlottesville, VA (1973-1981), Professor do Departments of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, Stanford Univ, Stanford, CA (1981-1989), Chief of Medicine no Palo Alto Veterans Administration Medical Center, CA (1981-1986). Tornou-se Adjunct Professor do Department of Pharmacology, Northwestern Univ Medical School, Chicago, Illinois (1988) e foi vice-presidente do Pharmaceutical Research & Development, and Corporate Officer, Abbott Laoratories, Abbott Park, Illinois (1990-1992) e presidente da Molecular Geriatrics Corporation, Lake Bluff, Illinois (1993-1995). Outro prêmio que muito orgulhou esse cientista foi o Ciba Award Recipient (1988).