Class
| • | 2. Biological Sciences | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Herbert George Baker | | | Institution: | University of California, Berkeley | | | Year Elected: | 1986 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 208. Plant Sciences | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1920 | | | Death Date: | July 2, 2001 | | | | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg | | | Institution: | NASA Astrobiology Institute & Fox Chase Cancer Center & University of Pennsylvania | | | Year Elected: | 1986 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 204. Medicine, Surgery, Pathology and Immunology | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1925 | | | Death Date: | April 5, 2011 | | | | | | |
Baruch S. Blumberg served as the President of the American Philosophical Society 2005-2011. He was a Distinguished Scientist at Fox Chase Cancer Center and University Professor of Medicine and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. From May 1999 until October 2002, he served as Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Astrobiology Institute headquartered at Ames Research Center (ARC). He was Senior Advisor to the Administrator of NASA (2000-01), and Principal Scientist of the NASA Division of Fundamental Space Biology (2002-04). In October 2008 he was appointed Distinguished Scientist at ARC associated with the NASA Lunar Science Institute and the Astrobiology Institute. He was Master of Balliol College, Oxford University, from 1989 to 1994 and, prior to that, Associate Director for Clinical Research at Fox Chase. He was on the staff of the National Institutes of Health from 1957 to 1964. Dr. Blumberg earned his M.D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, in 1951 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Oxford University in 1957.
Dr. Blumberg's research covered many areas including clinical research, epidemiology, virology, genetics, anthropology, and space-related biological science. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1976 for "discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases" and specifically, for the discovery of the Hepatitis B virus. In 1993 he and his co-inventor, Dr. Irving Millman, were elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame for their Hepatitis B vaccine and the diagnostic test for Hepatitis B. Dr. Blumberg was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1986. He died April 5, 2011, at the age of 85, in Moffett Field, California. | |
| 3 | Name: | Dr. Thomas Eisner | | | Institution: | Cornell University | | | Year Elected: | 1986 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 203. Evolution & Ecology, Systematics, Population Genetics, Paleontology, and Physical Anthropology | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1929 | | | Death Date: | March 25, 2011 | | | | | | |
Thomas Eisner was a world authority on animal behavior, ecology, and evolution and was one of the pioneers of chemical ecology, the discipline dealing with the chemical interactions of organisms. He joined the faculty of Cornell University in 1955 and remained at Cornell throughout his life. He is author or co-author of some 400 scientific articles and books. A field biologist with working experience on four continents, Dr. Eisner was an active conservationist. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society and the National Scientific Council of the Nature Conservancy. He was president of the American Society of Naturalists and chairman of the Biology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Eisner played a key role in initiating the Congressional Fellow Program in Washington, and in efforts to preserve wilderness areas in Florida and Texas. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, he received numerous honors, including the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the Harvard Centennial Medal, the National Medal of Science and, in 2008, the National Academy of Sciences' John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science. He was a foreign fellow of The Royal Society and a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina and Academia Europaea. A well-known nature photographer, he also helped make award-winning film documentaries. Dr. Eisner grew up in Uruguay, became a naturalized American citizen and received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. Fluent in four languages, he was also a pianist and conductor of considerable talent. Thomas Eisner died on March 25, 2011, at age 81, in Ithaca, New York. | |
| 4 | Name: | Dr. Franz Huber | | | Institution: | Max Planck Institute | | | Year Elected: | 1986 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 209. Neurobiology | | | Residency: | International | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1925 | | | Death Date: | April 27, 2017 | | | | | | |
Franz Huber was a leader in the study of insect communication. His work provided direct evidence for the localization of the neural and motor system involved in sound production in cricket song and formed the basis of modern neuroethology of behavior of insects. He also made fundamental contributions to an understanding of the role of pattern generators in behavior. Dr. Huber held a number of academic posts, including assistant and associate professor at the University of Tübingen's Institute of Animal Physiology (1949-63) and professor of zoology and animal physiology (1962-73) and dean of the faculty of natural sciences (1967-68) at the University of Cologne. Later, he organized and directed the Max-Planck-Institut in Seewiesen, Germany, serving both as a scientific member and research director. After retiring from the Institut, he was named Professor Emeritus. Dr. Huber's many honors include the Karl Ritter von Frisch Medal (1980), the Polish Physiological Society's Napoleon Cybulski Medal (1983) four honorary doctor degrees (Cologne 1988, Toulouse 1991, Odense 1992 and Zurich 1993), and elections to seven academies, including election as a foreign member to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1986. | |
| 5 | Name: | Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini | | | Institution: | European Brain Research Institute | | | Year Elected: | 1986 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1909 | | | Death Date: | December 30, 2012 | | | | | | |
Neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, Italy and was a dual citizen of Italy and the United States. In 1986 she received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein molecule that enhances differentiative processes of the sensory and sympathetic neurons and may exert a modulatory role on neuro-immunoendocrine functions of vital importance in the regulation of homeostatic processes. Much of Dr. Levi-Montalcini's most important work was conducted over her three decades at Washington University in St. Louis. She also directed the Research Center of Neurobiology of the CNR (Rome) from 1961-69 and the Laboratory of Cellular Biology from 1969-78. Her many awards and honors include the National Medal of Science (1987) and a 2001 Senate-for-life nomination by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. In 1968 Dr. Levi-Montalcini became the tenth woman ever elected to the National Academy of Sciences. At age 98, she was the oldest living Nobel laureate. Rita Levi-Montalcini died December 30, 2012, at the age of 103, at her home in Rome, Italy. | |
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