Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 16, 2001

Volume 29, Number 22

Thomas A. Steitz

Scientist Thomas Steitz honored
with Sterling Professorship

Thomas A. Steitz, who has been honored with an appointment as Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, is internationally known for his work in X-ray crystallography, which he uses to study the molecular structure of proteins and nucleic acids.

Steitz's other research interests are the structural basis of enzyme mechanisms and protein-nucleic acid interactions. He and his research team recently made a landmark scientific stride in determining the atomic structure of the ribosome's large subunit. The researchers earlier produced three-dimensional images of the largest component of the ribosome, which is the cellular structure responsible for synthesizing protein molecules in all organisms. This advance was heralded for its implications for the development of new and more effective antibiotics.

Steitz's laboratory was the first to produce close-up pictures of transfer RNA as its genetic code was being translated into the basic components of life. In 1992, Steitz determined the three-dimensional structure of a key AIDS protein called reverse transcriptase, which is responsible for transcribing the virus' genetic material. These images were the first to show the AIDS protein bound to a drug that inhibits its action, which could result in more effective AIDS medications. Steitz's laboratory also solved the structure of a DNA polymerase from E. coli bacteria bound to a DNA segment, and that of Rec A, a protein required for genetic recombination. Steitz has described his discoveries in nearly 200 articles that have been published in major scientific publications.

Steitz earned his undergraduate degree at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, and his Ph.D. at Harvard University. He completed postdoctoral research at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, before joining the Yale faculty as an assistant professor in 1970. He became a full professor in 1979 and was named the Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry in 1994. Currently chair of the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Steitz has been a Howard Hughes Medical InstituteInvestigator since 1986.

During his Yale career, the molecular biologist has been a Josia Macy Fellow at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany, and at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. In addition, he was a Fairchild Scholar at the California Institute of Technology and served during the 1992-93 academic year as a visiting professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He has been invited to speak at universities throughout North America. This spring, he will speak as a Pioneers in Biology Series Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and as the Findling Lecturer at the Mayo Graduate School in Rochester, Maryland. He will deliver Northwestern University's Searle Lectures next fall.

Steitz has received many honors for his groundbreaking work, including the Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Sciences, the Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry and an honorary degree from Lawrence University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Economist will develop better way to measure economic activity in U.S.

Yale SOM to establish database for study of world's financial history

F&ES to create industrial ecology program in Asia

Greene and Brisman awarded DeVane Medals

Professor Lane explains the economics of happiness

Scientist Thomas Steitz honored with Sterling Professorship

Goldman-Rakic is Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology

Joan Steitz cited as outstanding woman scientist

Student actors 'take flight' in comic version of 'The Birds'

Exhibition examines photographers' contrasting images of Saarinen designs

'Faces of Hope' offers portraits of people living with HIV

Model urges students to take pride in their bodies

'Cities and Buildings' pays tribute to urban works . . .

Forum to explore fate of U.S. 'melting pot'

Discovery boosts understanding of hereditary blindness

Grants will support Yale researcher's study on how to quell the 'voices' . . .

Women under 60 more likely to die after heart attack, says study

Renowned nuclear physicist to discuss 'Science, Technology and Politics'

'A Taste of Inequality' explores issues still on feminist frontline

Love songs will be dramatized in workshops

New fund will support activities for teachers of religious studies

New ways of funding environmental enterprises to be examined

Film series focus on the banned and Brazilian

Innovation is focus of this year's Spring Teaching Forum

Annual Pride Week celebration will feature talks, comedy night and film

Campus Notes