Lucien Brouha

Lucien Brouha
portrait of a young rower wearing a singlet on a river
Brouha in 1921
Born
Lucien Antoine Maurice Brouha

(1899-10-26)26 October 1899
Liège, Belgium
Died6 October 1968(1968-10-06) (aged 68)
Liège, Belgium
Resting placeRobermont Cemetery
Alma materUniversity of Liège
Known forRabbit test
Harvard step test
FatherMaurice Brouha
RelativesMarcel Dubuisson (brother-in-law)
AwardsGilbreth Medal
Scientific career
FieldsExercise physiologist
Occupational ergonomics
PatronsBelgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF)
Sports career
SportRowing
Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Belgium
European Rowing Championships
Silver medal – second place 1921 Amsterdam Double sculls
Bronze medal – third place 1922 Barcelona Double sculls
Bronze medal – third place 1924 Zürich Coxed four

Lucien Antoine Maurice Brouha (26 October 1899 – 6 October 1968) was a Belgian rower who later became a notable exercise physiologist in the United States. He won three medals (one silver and two bronze) at European Rowing Championships between 1921 and 1924. He attended the 1924 Paris Olympics but his team was eliminated in the repechage. In his early medical career, he helped develop an early pregnancy test at the University of Liège. From the 1930s, his academic interest shifted towards exercise physiology. Between 1934 and the outbreak of World War II, Brouha travelled on scholarships on several occasions to conduct research at universities in the United States. Having been imprisoned during World War I, he left Belgium for Paris due to increasing tension with Nazi Germany in early 1940.

Later in 1940, Brouha relocated to Harvard University, Massachusetts. At Harvard, he focused on military research for the United States Army. He is best known for developing the Harvard step test, a simple fitness test first used by the army but later also used for civilian purposes. He moved to the private sector in Canada in 1944, where he helped shape the field of ergonomics, but retained connections to various universities.