Barbara Burgess
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Barbara Kathryn Burgess (December 31, 1950 – December 30, 2001) was an American biologist known for her work in the fields of metallobiochemistry and
nitrogen fixation Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular dinitrogen () is converted into ammonia (). It occurs both biologically and abiological nitrogen fixation, abiologically in chemical industry, chemical industries. Biological nitrogen ...
. She was a professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
.


Early life and education

Burgess was born and raised in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
and attended public school throughout her childhood. She matriculated at
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
at the age of 17 and graduated in three years; she remained there for her doctoral studies in
biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
and
microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...
and graduated with her
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
at 25. Her doctoral thesis concerned nitrogen fixation and the mechanisms involved in each reaction.


Career and research

After a brief stint at the Kettering Research Lab in
Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...
, Burgess moved to the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
to continue her work with ''
Azotobacter ''Azotobacter'' is a genus of usually motile, oval or spherical bacteria that form thick-walled cysts (and also has hard crust) and may produce large quantities of capsular slime. They are aerobic, free-living soil microbes that play an impo ...
''
metalloenzyme Metalloprotein is a generic term for a protein that contains a metal ion cofactor. A large proportion of all proteins are part of this category. For instance, at least 1000 human proteins (out of ~20,000) contain zinc-binding protein domains al ...
s and
nitrogenase Nitrogenases are enzymes () that are produced by certain bacteria, such as cyanobacteria (blue-green bacteria) and rhizobacteria. These enzymes are responsible for the reduction of nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3). Nitrogenases are the only fa ...
. Her work also influenced the field of iron-sulfur proteins. She was recognized by her peers as a leader in nitrogen fixation and served as Chair of the NIH Study Section on Metallobiochemistry and Chair of the 2001 Gordon Conference on Metals in Biology. She took her own life on December 30, 2001, leaving a husband and 3 children.


Honors and awards

*1998 Guggenheim Fellow * Fulbright Fellow * Fellow,
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
* Lauds and Laurels Faculty Achievement Award, UC Irvine (posthumous) * Chair, National Institutes of Health Study Section on Metallobiochemistry


See also

*
John P. Burgess John Patton Burgess (born 5 June 1948) is an American philosopher. He is John N. Woodhull Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University where he specializes in logic and philosophy of mathematics. Education and career Burgess received his Ph. ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Barbara 1950 births 2001 deaths Purdue University alumni Scientists from Cleveland American women biologists 20th-century American biologists Suicides in the United States 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American biologists