| 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 |
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