Rustem Gamow: Inventor, Scientist, and Controversy

Rustem Gamow, son of renowned physicist George Gamow, was a microbiology professor and inventor known for his inventions like the Gamow bag and SUBA. Despite his achievements, Gamow faced termination from the University of Colorado due to allegations of sexual harassment and assault, leading to legal battles and a lasting impact on his legacy.

American microbiology professor and inventor (1935–2021)

Rustem Igor Gamow (November 4, 1935, in Georgetown, D.C. – April 15, 2021) was a microbiology professor at the University of Colorado and inventor. His best known inventions included the Gamow bag and the Shallow Underwater Breathing Apparatus. He was fired from CU in 2004 following sexual harassment and assault charges.

Early life and education

Rustem Igor Gamow was the son of Soviet émigré physicists George Gamow and Lyubov Vokhmintseva "Rho" Gamow. Finishing high school at age 17, he joined the National Ballet Company.^{[citation needed]} He worked breaking horses, delivering packages by motorcycle, and teaching karate before enrolling at the University of Colorado in 1958, where his father taught.^{[citation needed]} Igor Gamow received a B.A. and M.S. in biology, and a Ph.D. in biophysics, all at University of Colorado.^{[citation needed]}

Research

Gamow worked on Phycomyces blakesleeanus during postdoctoral research under Max Delbrück at Caltech. At CU-Boulder, he did Phycomyces research for over twenty years, mainly on the avoidance and anemotropic responses, helical growth, and cell-wall mechanical properties. He also studied the infrared-detectors of the Boa constrictor.

An avid outdoorsman, Gamow developed a number of inventions for safety in outdoor activities. His first important one, patented in 1990, was the Gamow bag enabling mountain climbers to avoid altitude sickness by raising the surrounding pressure. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first expedition leader to summit Mount Everest, wrote him in congratulation.^{[citation needed]} Another was the Shallow Underwater Breathing Apparatus ("SUBA"), a pressurized snorkel system permitting swimmers to breathe easily as deep as ten feet under water.

Igor Gamow also worked in bionics, on an orthopedic knee brace that stores energy within a spring from the hamstring and redirects it to the quadriceps.^{[citation needed]}

Patents

U.S. patent 4,974,829 — Hyperbaric chamber
U.S. patent 5,109,837 — Hyperbaric chamber
U.S. patent 5,193,530 — Underwater breathing apparatus
U.S. patent 5,360,001 — Hyperbaric chamber closure means
U.S. patent 5,367,790 — Shoe and foot prosthesis with a coupled spring system
U.S. patent 5,398,678 — Hyperbaric chamber and exercise environment
U.S. patent 5,467,764 — Hypobaric sleeping chamber
U.S. patent 5,580,094 — In-line skate walking guard
U.S. patent 5,701,686 — Shoe and foot prosthesis with bending beam spring structures
U.S. patent 5,947,116 — Underwater breathing apparatus with pressurized snorkel
U.S. patent 6,029,374 — Shoe and foot prosthesis with bending beam spring structures

Termination at CU

In 2002, a former assistant of Gamow's filed a lawsuit against the university alleging sexual harassment and sexual assault of seven women. After the lawsuit was filed, the university began to take steps to terminate Gamow. In 2004 the CU Board of Regents unanimously upheld the recommendation to dismiss Gamow for "moral turpitude". Gamow filed a lawsuit against CU in an attempt to be reinstated.

In May 2006, CU lost a lawsuit that had been filed by Gamow's former assistant and was ordered to pay her $285,000 plus attorney's fees.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2011, Gamow released an open letter addressing some misconceptions about events leading to his termination from the University of Colorado.