Knowles and Solbrig Honored for Scientific Achievements

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles and Otto Solbrig, Bussey professor of biology, recently won accolades for their achievements in science.

Knowles was awarded the Nakanishi Prize by the American Chemical Society and Solbrig received the International Prize for Biology earlier this month.

"I am, of course, both surprised and honored to be awarded the Nakanishi Prize, for it relates to my earlier life before the Deanship," Knowles said in a recent e-mail message.

He added that "the approval of one's colleagues is always the most enjoyably piquant."

Solbrig was chosen by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science to be the recipient of the 1998 International Prize for Biology. A member of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard, Solbrig has focused his scientific research on the evolution of diversity in plants.

A committee decides each year which specialty in the field of biology the prize will recognize. This year's specialty is "The Science of Biodiversity."

According to the official biography by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, Solbrig was honored for his work both inside and outside the laboratory.

The society lauded Solbrig for demonstrating "both through field studies and experimental manipulations, how dandelions adapt through genetic modifications to different environmental situations."

Solbrig is currently involved in promoting conservation agriculture in Latin America but said he is still thrilled to win the biodiversity distinction.

"Because it was given specifically for my work on `The Science of Biodiversity,' it feels even better," Solbrig said of the prize's theme.

The Nakanishi Prize focuses on work that has affected an academic field internationally. The prize, awarded annually for the last 14 years, is administered by an international committee every year and carries with it a medal and 10 million yen (about $75,000).

Other Harvard professors who had previously received the award include Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University professor emeritus, for his work in ecolo- gy and Ernst Mayr, Alexander Agassiz professorof zoology emeritus, for his research insystematics.

Comparatively, the Nakanishi Prize is new.Named by the friends and colleagues of KojiNakanishi in honor of the Columbia Universityprofessor, it has been administered for only twoyears. However, it includes a bronze medal, a$3,000 award and travel package for the recipientand a partner. Prize sponsorship rotates annuallybetween the Chemical Society of Japan and theAmerican Chemical Society.

According to Edward Kordoski, assistant awardsadministrator, the purpose of the prize is to"recognize and stimulate significant work thatextends chemical and spectroscopic methods to thestudy of important biological phenomena."

Gregory L. Verdine, professor of chemicalbiology, said he counted Knowles as a personalmentor during his assistant professorship atHarvard and praised his academic work.

"Knowles has made very profound contributionsthat shake the scientific world to the core--theway people look at certain really importantproblems," Verdine said.

Knowles, whose work includes enzyme research,was a pioneer as a chemist in the field ofmolecular biology. He was one of the firstscientists to conduct site-directed mutogenesis,in which a single point mutation affects the aminoacid coding sequence of proteins

Comparatively, the Nakanishi Prize is new.Named by the friends and colleagues of KojiNakanishi in honor of the Columbia Universityprofessor, it has been administered for only twoyears. However, it includes a bronze medal, a$3,000 award and travel package for the recipientand a partner. Prize sponsorship rotates annuallybetween the Chemical Society of Japan and theAmerican Chemical Society.

According to Edward Kordoski, assistant awardsadministrator, the purpose of the prize is to"recognize and stimulate significant work thatextends chemical and spectroscopic methods to thestudy of important biological phenomena."

Gregory L. Verdine, professor of chemicalbiology, said he counted Knowles as a personalmentor during his assistant professorship atHarvard and praised his academic work.

"Knowles has made very profound contributionsthat shake the scientific world to the core--theway people look at certain really importantproblems," Verdine said.

Knowles, whose work includes enzyme research,was a pioneer as a chemist in the field ofmolecular biology. He was one of the firstscientists to conduct site-directed mutogenesis,in which a single point mutation affects the aminoacid coding sequence of proteins