George Hess

George Paul Hess (November 18, 1922 – September 15, 2015) was a research biochemist who specialized in studying acetylcholine receptors. Hess developed laser pulse photolysis and a quench flow technique. Personal life George Hess was born on November 18, 1922, in Vienna, Austria. He lived with his parents and grandparents, near much of his extended family. He spent his summers in the lake region of Salzkammergut,  After Germany annexed Austria 1938 Hess and his father had to flee because they were Jewish. They escaped to Turin, Italy and stayed with distant family members for 9 months until they were able to obtain US visas. His mother and her parents later joined Hess and his father in the US, where they settled in California. In 1946, he joined the US Army, where he worked in a pathology lab studying infectious diseases. In 1945, he was granted US citizenship as a result of his Army service. George Hess married three times. His first wife was Jean Ray, with whom he had one daughter his second Betsey Williams, with whom he had four sons, and his third Susan Coombs, with whom he remained for the last 35 years of his life.