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Dr. Paul D. Boyer has devoted his career as a researcher and educator to unraveling riddles about fundamental chemical processes that affect all life. His work has proven so profound that in 1997 Professor Boyer received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering investigation of the formation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) -- the key to the cellular energy that drives all biological reactions. Every cell function relies on ATP, from the building of bones to the contraction of muscles and the transmission of nerve impulses. The mechanisms that produce ATP are highly complex and have challenged scientists for decades. Professor Boyer devoted six decades of work to the study of enzymes, particularly to the study of oxidative phosphorylation -- the process in which the energy that organisms acquire from food is converted largely to ATP. He helped explain the process by developing a model of how the various subunits of the enzyme ATP synthase work together like gears, levers, and ratchets to generate ATP. A native of Utah, Professor Boyer received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He was a member of the University of Minnesota faculty for 17 years before coming to UCLA in 1963. In addition to his own innovative research, Professor Boyer contributed to the success of many of his colleagues when he founded the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute in 1965. The institute provides research and training resources for faculty from the College of Letters and Science and the School of Medicine. Professor Boyer has received numerous national and international awards for his scientific achievement, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the American Chemical Society Award for Research in Enzyme Chemistry. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1968, and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1970. For his far-reaching contributions to understanding the basic processes of life and for his generous and inspirational support of students and colleagues through the years, we bestow upon Paul D. Boyer The UCLA Medal.

Given this ninth day of April

one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight