Harold Scheraga | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1921-10-18)October 18, 1921 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 1, 2020(2020-08-01) (aged 98) Ithaca, New York, U.S. |
| Education | City College of New York Duke University |
| Known for | Theoretical and computational studies ofprotein folding |
| Awards | William H. Nichols Medal(1974) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biophysics |
| Institutions | Cornell University |
| Thesis | Kinetics of the thermal chlorination of benzal chloride (1946) |
| Doctoral advisor | P.M. Gross &M.E. Hobbs |
Harold Abraham Scheraga (October 18, 1921 – August 1, 2020) was an Americanbiophysicist and the George W. and Grace L. Todd ProfessorEmeritus in thechemistry department atCornell University.[1] Scheraga is regarded as a pioneer inprotein biophysics and has been especially influential in the study of proteinsolvation and thehydrophobic effect as it relates toprotein folding.[2][3]
Scheraga was born in 1921 inBrooklyn, New York and spent his early life inMonticello, New York. His father worked as amachinist and opened a business there. The family returned to Brooklyn in 1929 due to business losses following the1929 Wall Street Crash and struggled economically through theGreat Depression. As a high school student, Scheraga was interested inmathematics and especially inclassics, which he intended to pursue in college, but exposure tophysics during his education at theCity College of New York convinced him to focus on physical chemistry.[4] He received hisbachelor's degree from CCNY in 1941 and hisPh.D. fromDuke University in 1946.[1] During his graduate work, he spent time on projects related to the US war effort inWorld War II as well as on his own research. While at Duke he worked withFritz London,Paul Gross, and others.[4] After graduation, he spent a year as apostdoctoral fellow atHarvard Medical School withJohn Edsall, where he first began to work with proteins.[4]
Scheraga spent his entire academic career atCornell University, beginning with an appointment as an instructor in 1947, becoming anassociate professor in 1950, and eventually being promoted tofull professor in 1958. As he later recalled, he was offered the instructor appointment byPeter Debye on the same day as his interview.[4] He became the Todd Professor of Chemistry in 1965 and retired, assumingemeritus status, in 1992. Scheraga served as the department chair from 1960-67.[1] Throughout his faculty career, Scheraga taught undergraduate courses inphysical chemistry, as well as graduate courses focused more specifically on proteins.[4]
Scheraga's research career was focused onproteinbiophysics, beginning in the 1940s when little was known about the subject. His work on proteinsolvation, thehydrophobic effect, and the consequences forprotein folding was controversial in its early stages, but has been highly influential. He was also a significant contributor in theoretical and computational biophysics, developingstatistical mechanical models for the hydrophobic effect and playing a key role in earlymolecular mechanics models of proteins, developingforce fields for use in protein and peptide simulations.[2] Most of his later work was focused onmolecular dynamics simulations of proteins and protein folding, particularly as compared toNMR measurements.[4][5]
Scheraga met his wife Miriam Kurnow, at the time a sociology student atBrooklyn College, through a Jewish social club in Brooklyn in which he participated during his time as a CCNY student. They married while Scheraga was at Duke, where Miriam briefly took a technician job in analytical chemistry to support the couple. She later worked in the Cornell University library. She died January 5, 2020.[6] They had three children.[4]
Scheraga died on August 1, 2020, at the age of 98.[7]
Scheraga received numerous awards in recognition of his influence in the protein biophysics field.[1]
