Paul Boyer Award for Outstanding PostDoctoral Studies in Biochemistry

The 2003 Recipients will present their talks at 3:30 pm in B1118 Biochemistry.

Scott Michaels
Memories of winter: the central role of FLOWERING LOCUS C in the regulation of flowering time in Arabidopsis

Christian Eckmann
Mining for Gold – Cell Fate Decisions in the C. elegans Germline

Paul Delos Boyer is a native of Provo, Utah where he graduated from Brigham Young University in 1939. He was a graduate student in the UW-Madison Biochemistry Department with Professor Paul Phillips and finished his Ph.D. in 1943. After 17 years as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, he moved to UCLA where in 1965 he became founding Director of UCLA’s Molecular Biology Institute.

As a graduate student he discovered the role of potassium as a co-factor for pyruvate kinase. This was the first evidence for an alkaline metal cation participating in enzyme atalysis. He continued studying enzymes throughout his career and served as editor of the multi-volume treatise” The Enzymes”. Paul is best known for revealing the binding change mechanism for ATP synthasa involving a novel rotational catalysis.

Paul’s achievements have been recognizing in many awards: Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1997; Rose Award, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; American Chemical Society Award in Enzyme Chemistry; Honorary Doctorates-Stockholm, 1974; University of Minnesota, 1996; University of Wisconsin, 1998. He is a member of the National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Despite all the professional responsibilities Paul and his wife Lyda find time for tennis, biking, golf, and building homes. They have supervised construction and furnishing of three, giving Paul an outlet for his carpentry skills.