18 Facts About Jerry Gallwas

Jerry Gallwas was born on 1936 and is an American rock climber active in the 1950s during the dawn of the Golden Age of Yosemite Rock Climbing.

Jerry Gallwas achieved a number of pioneering first ascents including sandstone spires in the American Southwest, and the first ascent of the Northwest Face of Half Dome with Royal Robbins and Mike Sherrick in 1957.

Jerry Gallwas studied chemistry at San Diego State University and spent much of his career working for scientific instrument maker Beckman Instruments, Inc He helped to develop consensus standards for laboratory medicine, and served on the board of directors and as president of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards.

Gerald Ernst Gallwas was born in Whittier, California, the only child of Ernst and Lois Gallwas.

Jerry Gallwas' father held many jobs, including farmer, iron worker, and commercial fisherman.

Jerry Gallwas imagined one day taking a photo where Salathe stood.

In 1954, Jerry Gallwas fulfilled that dream by completing the 5th ascent of the spire with Wayne Merry.

In 1951, Jerry Gallwas began climbing with members of the Sierra Club from Southern California, including Royal Robbins and Don Wilson.

Jerry Gallwas described his relationship with Robbins and Wilson as teenage amateurs in tennis shoes.

Robbins showed little interest in desert climbing, so Jerry Gallwas teamed with Wilson and Mark Powell to make a series of pioneering first ascents of sandstone spires in the American Southwest.

Jerry Gallwas recognized the problem and was among the first to make and use heat-treated chrome-molybdenum steel alloy pitons.

Jerry Gallwas patterned his pitons after John Salathe's so they could be placed hundreds of times without twisting.

Jerry Gallwas later ran a clinical chemistry laboratory while serving in the Army Medical Corps.

In 1964, he went on to work in diagnostics for scientific instrument maker Beckman Instruments, Inc In 1972, Jerry Gallwas served as a spokesperson for the adoption of voluntary consensus standards for laboratory medicine as the Food and Drug Administration began to regulate the medical device industry.

Jerry Gallwas served on the board of directors of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, now the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute for ten years and was its president from 1982 to 1984.

Jerry Gallwas met Beckman Instruments founder Dr Arnold Beckman and his wife, Mabel, within a few weeks of joining the company.

Jerry Gallwas is credited with collecting and displaying Arnold Beckman's earliest inventions that helped launch the electronic revolution in the chemical and biological sciences.

Additional exhibits that Jerry Gallwas collected are housed at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, now the Science History Institute in Philadelphia and at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.