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The Scripps Research Institute

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Kurt Wüthrich: Curriculum Vitae

Current Positions: Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Professor of Structural Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.; Professor of Biophysics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.

Personal Data
Born October 4, 1938, in Aarberg, Switzerland. Swiss citizen.
Married to Marianne Briner, 1963; two children, Bernhard Andrew 1968, Karin Lynn 1970.

Education and Positions Held
1957–62 University of Bern, Switzerland: Lizentiat in chemistry, physics and mathematics.
1962–64 University of Basel, Switzerland: Ph.D. in chemistry (Prof. S. Fallab); Eidgenössisches Turn- und Sportlehrerdiplom.
1964–65 University of Basel, Switzerland: Postdoctoral training (Prof. S. Fallab).
1965–67 University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA: Postdoctoral training (Prof. R.E. Connick).
1967–69 Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, N.J., USA: Member Technical Staff, Biophysics Department (Dr. R.G. Shulman).
1969– ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland: Privatdozent (70), Assistant Professor (72), Associate Professor (76), Professor of Biophysics (80); Chairman Biology Department (95–2000).
2001–04 The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA: Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Visiting Professor of Structural Biology.
2004– The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA: Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Professor of Structural Biology.

Major Research Interests
Biology, structure and function of proteins and nucleic acids; development of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for macromolecular structure determination in solution and for studies of intermolecular interactions; applications in structural genomics, proteomics and biomedical research.

Publications
NMR in Biological Research: Peptides and Proteins, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1976.
NMR of Proteins and Nucleic Acids, Wiley, New York, 1986. NMR in Structural Biology a Collection of Papers by Kurt Wüthrich, World Scientific, Singapore, 1995.
over 700 original papers and reviews.

Awards
1974 Friedrich-Miescher-Preis, Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Biochemie.
1983 Shield of the Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo University, Japan.
1986 Médaille P. Bruylants, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
1990 Stein and Moore Award of the Protein Society, USA.
1991 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, Columbia University, New York, USA.
1991 Gilbert Newton Lewis Medal, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
1992 Marcel Benoist-Preis, awarded by the Swiss Confederation.
1993 Distinguished Service Award, The Miami Bio/Technology Winter Symposia, USA.
1993 Prix Louis Jeantet de Médecine, Fondation Louis Jeantet, Geneva, Switzerland.
1996 Kaj Linderstrøm-Lang Prize, Carlsberg Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1997 Eminent Scientist of RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan.
1998 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology, Inamori Foundation, Kyoto, Japan.
1999 Günther Laukien Prize, Experimental NMR Conference (ENC), USA.
1999 Otto-Warburg-Medaille, Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, Germany.
2001 Médaille d‘Honneur en Argent, Société d‘Encouragement au Progrès, Paris, France.
2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
2002 World ‘Future’ Award, The World Awards, Wien, Austria.
2002 wiss ‘Society’ Award, The Swiss Awards, Zürich, Switzerland.
2002 Ehrenpreis 2002, City of Wallisellen, Switzerland.
2003 Honorary Citizenship, City of Lyss, Switzerland.
2008 Johannes M. Bijvoet Medal, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
2008 Paul Walden Medal, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia.
2009 Jabir ibn Hyyan (Geber) Medal, Saudi Chemical Society.

Honorary Degrees
1997 Dottore ad Honorem in Chimica, Università degli Studi di Siena, Italy.
1997 Dr. phil. honoris causa, Universität Zürich, Switzerland.
2001 Docteur honoris causa, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland.

2004 Doctor honoris causa, Universitat de València, Spain.
2004 Doctor of Science honoris causa, University of Sheffield, UK.
2004 Honorary Professor, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Dalian, China.
2004 Honorary Professor, Dalian Institute of Light Industry, Dalian, China.
2004 Profesor Extraordinario con distinci ón de Académico Ilustre, U.N. Mar del Plata, Argentina.
2005 Doctor of Science honoris causa, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India.
2007 Doctor honoris causa, University of Pécs, Hungary.
2007 Doctor honoris causa, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
2007 Laurea Specialistica in Biotechnology honoris causa, University of Verona, Italy.
2007 Docteur honoris causa, Université René Descartes, Paris, France.

Academies and Honorary Memberships in Societies
1984 European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
1987 Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina.
1989 Academia Europaea.
1989 Foreign Fellow, Indian National Science Academy.
1992 Foreign Associate, US National Academy of Sciences.
1992 Honorary Fellow, The National Academy of Sciences, India.
1993 Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
1993 Honorary Member, Japanese Biochemical Society.
1998 Honorary Member, National Magnetic Resonance Society of India.
1998 AAAS Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
2000 Associé étranger, Académie des Sciences, Institut de France.
2001 Schweizerische Akademie der Technischen Wissenschaften (SATW).
2002 Schweizerische Akademie der Medizinischen Wissenschaften (SAMW).
2002 IUPAC Fellow.
2003 Honorary Member, The World Innovation Foundation, UK.
003 onorary Fellow, The Royal Society of Chemistry, UK.
2003 Honorary Fellow, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, UK.
2003 Honorary Member, Swiss Chemical Society.
2003 Honorary Member, Wallisellen Football Club, Switzerland.
2003 Titular Member, European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities.
2004 Honorary Member, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
2004 Honorary Member, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
2004 Honorary Member, World Academy of Young Scientists.
2004 Honorary Member, World High Technology Society, Dalian, China.
2004 Honorary Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
2004 Foreign Member, Latvian Academy of Sciences.
2004 Honorary Member, Groupement Ampère.
2004 Honorary Member, The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Society of Japan.
2005 Honorary Member, Indian Biophysical Society.
2005 Corresponding Member, Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
2005 Foreign Member, The Korean Academy of Science and Technology.
2005 Honorary Member, The Korean Magnetic Resonance Society.
2008 Honorary Fellow, Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Riga, Latvia.
2008 ISMAR Fellow.

Visiting Faculty Appointments
1988 November: Visiting Miller Research Professor, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
1992 February–March: Scholar in Residence, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
1994 February–June: Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA.
1994 October–December: Guest Scientist, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
1995 February–April: Visiting Associate in Biology and Chemistry, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA.
1997–98 For two months: Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Tokyo, Japan.
1997–00 Visiting Professor, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
2004
Honorary Professor, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
2004 Honorary Professor, Dalian Institute of Light Industry, Dalian, China.
2006-08 Underwood International College Distinguished Professor, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
2006– Honorary Professor of Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Scientific Advisory Boards
Centro Stefano Franscini, Monte Verità and ETH Zürich, Switzerland 89–98.
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany 89–95.
National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China 89– .
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn, Germany: Schwerpunktsprogramm “Protein Design” 89–95.
Commission of the European Communities: Human Capital and Mobility Program 92–94.
Institut für Molekulare Biotechnologie, Jena, Germany 93–96.
Ciba Foundation, London, UK 94–96.
Institut de Biologie Structurale Jean- Pierre Ebel, Grenoble, France 94–97.
Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Finland 97–05. Novartis Foundation, London, UK 97– .
Triad Therapeutics Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA 98– 04.
Genomics Sciences Center, RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan 00–05.
Syrrx Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA 00–04.
Groupement d‘Intérêt Scientifique “Infections à Prions”, France 01–.
National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (NICPB), Tallinn, Estonia 01–05.
National High Field NMR Center (NANUC), University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada 01–04.
Resource for Solid-State NMR of Proteins at UCSD, La Jolla, CA, USA 01–04.
Eidogen-Sertanty, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA 02–.
Scientific Committee for Chemistry, International Solvay Institutes, Brussels, Belgium 05–.
Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing,
China 05 –
Scientific Committee for Chemistry, International Solvay Institutes, Brussels, Belgium, 05–.
Honorary Advisory Board of IUBMB, 07–
Councillor of the Foundation Antidoping Switzerland, 08–

Editorial Assignments
Editor: Q. Rev.Biophys. 84–91, 96–01; Macromolecular Structures 90–00; J. Biomol. NMR 91–.
Member Editorial Board: Biochim. Biophys. Acta, Biochimie, Biophys. Chem., Biopolymers, CHEMBIOCHEM, Chemtracts, Encyclopedia of NMR, Comm. Mol. Cell. Biophysics, Curr. Methods Mol. Cell Biol., Curr. Opinion Struct. Biol., Eur. Biophys. J., Inorg. Chim. Acta, IUBMB Life, J. Biotechnology, J. Computer-Aided Mol. Design, J. Magn. Reson., J. Membrane Biol., J. Struct.Funct. Genomics, Life Sciences, Proteins, Structure.

Consultancy Assignments
Hoechst AG, Frankfurt, Germany 85–92.
Sandoz Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland 87–96.
Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Basel, Switzerland 87– 04.
Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, Switzerland 89–96.
Tripos Inc., St. Louis, MO, USA 92–94.
Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland 97– .

Offices in Professional Organizations
Schweiz. Kommission für Molekularbiologie (SKMB): Member 73–76; President 77–82.
International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB): Council Member 75–78 and 87–90; Secretary General 78–84; Vice-President 84–87.
International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU): Member General Committee 80–86; Member Standing Committee on the Free Circulation of Scientists 82–90.
Kommission für die Wolfgang Pauli-Vorlesungen, ETH Zürich: Member 84–92; President 93–01.
Zürcher Chemische Gesellschaft: President 90–91.
Schweiz. Gesellschaft für Biochemie: Member Executive Committee 86–92; President Biophysics Section 85–88.
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Commission on Biophysical Chemistry: Member 96–99; Chairman 00–01.
Prix Marcel Benoist, Conseil de Fondation, Bern : Member 01–.

Patronage Committees
Visionen ETH 2030, 150 th Anniversary ETH Zürich, Switzerland 03–05.
International Jury, World Awards, Vienna, Austria 03–.
Honorary Board, The International Wallenberg Foundation, New York, USA 03–.
Academy Member, Swiss Awards, Zürich, Switzerland 03–.
2. Schweizerische Kunstturntage, Bern, Switzerland 04.
Symposium Systems Biology (C-BSSE), Basel, Switzerland 04. Kulturprojekt “Einstein05”, Bern, Switzerland 04 –05 .
Buchlobby Schweiz, Switzerland 04–.
Science et Cit é, Bern, Switzerland 04 –.
Synapsis Foundation, Zürich, Switzerland 04 –.
Honorary Board, Swiss Science Forum 05 –.
International Peace Foundation 05 –.
Founder’s Assembly of the Foundation Lindau Nobelprizewinners Meetings 05–.
Association of Swiss Scientific Olympiads 05–.
Ambassador fo Zürich, UEFA EURO 2008, 06-08.
175th Anniversary of Zürich, Switzerland, 07-08.
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Named Lectures
1982 FMC Lectures, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
1983 Baker Lectures, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
1984 S. Rudin Lecture, Columbia University Medical School, New York, NY, USA.
1986 Chaire Bruylants, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.
1989 James Shannon Lecture, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
1989 Ada Doisy Lectures, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA.
1990 Pittsburgh Conference Lectures, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, P, USA.
1991 Distinguished Lecture in Structural Biology, Dartmouth College, Hannover, NH, USA.
1991 John T. Edsall Lecture, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
1991 Ira Remsen Memorial Lecture, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
1993 William H. Stein Memorial Lecture, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
1993 Calbiochem Lectures, UCSD, San Diego, CA, USA.
1993 Martinsrieder Kolloquium, MPI für Biochemie, Martinsried, Germany.
1995 P.A. Leermakers Lecture, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
1995 Adam Neville Lecture, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
1996 UCLA-DOE Distinguished Lecture, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1997 UMDNJ Distinguished Lecture, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
1998 University Lecture, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
1998 Ames Lecture, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
2000 Gitte Vold Memorial Lecture, UCSD, San Diego, CA, USA.
2001 Peter Hemmerich-Vorlesung, Universität Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
2002 Merck Frosst Lectures, Dept.of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2002 Harry Steenbock Lectures in Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
2003 Eraldo Antonini Memorial Lecture, Unversità di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy.

2004 Faculty Lecture Series, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
2004 Eyring Lectures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
2004 Robbins Lectures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
2004 Stammbach Lecture, Swiss Society of Neuropathology, St. Moritz, Switzerland.
2004 Derby Lectures, Department of Chemistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.
2004 Lauterbur Lecture, ISMRM Twelfth Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan.
2004Ernst-Abbe-Kolloquium, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany.
2004 Datta Lecture, 29th REBS Congress, Warsaw, Poland.
2005 Trombay Colloquium, Bhabba Atomie Research Centre, Mumbai, India.
2005 Sarojini Damodoran Lecture, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India.
2005 G.N. Ramachandran Memorial Lecture, Indian Biophysical Society, Pune, India.
2007 Irving L. Schwartz Lecture, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
2007 Aline U. and James M. Orten Memorial Lecture, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
2007 Philip Handler Lecture, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
2008 Discovery Lecture, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
2009 V. Ramalingaswami Memorial Lecture, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India.
2009 IUBMB Life Lecture, 21st IUBMB International Congress, Shanghai, China.

 


 

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