| 1 | Name: | Dr. Peter H. von Hippel | |
| Institution: | Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon | ||
| Year Elected: | 2004 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 206. Physiology, Biophysics, and Pharmacology | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1931 | ||
Peter von Hippel was born in Germany and became a naturalized US citizen in 1942. He obtained his BS, MS, and Ph. D. degrees at MIT, working on the physical biochemistry of protein complexes in the laboratory of Professor David F. Waugh. He then did postdoctoral work on actomyosin complexes with Dr. Manuel F. Morales at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, followed by a period as a staff scientist at NMRI while serving in the U.S. Navy He began his academic career in 1959 as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. His work at that time involved analyzes of the structure of proteins and nucleic acids, and the effects on these macromolecules of ions and other solvent additives. He remained at Dartmouth until 1967, and then moved to the University of Oregon as a Professor of Chemistry and Member of the Institute of Molecular Biology, where he has been ever since. While at Oregon the research program in the von Hippel laboratory has progressed from studies of the interactions of simple regulatory proteins and protein models with DNA to the quantitative analysis of the structure and function of various macromolecular complexes involved in the control of DNA replication and RNA transcription. He has served as Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Chair of the Chemistry Department at Oregon, and in 1989 was appointed an American Cancer Society Research Professor of Chemistry, which has spared him from further formal administrative activities. In other venues Dr. von Hippel has served on various study sections and advisory committees for both NIH and NSF and has participated in the activities of various professional organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors of FASEB and as President of the Biophysical Society. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous professional journals, and he and his laboratory colleagues have published more than 240 research papers. Dr. von Hippel was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences in 1978, to fellowship of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1979, and to resident membership in the American Philosophical Society in 2004. He is the 2021 recipient of the Ignacio Tinoco Award from the Biophysical Society for his exceptional contributions to the field of biophysics. | |||