Jerome Vinograd (February 9, 1913 – July 7, 1976) was an American

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

who developed density gradient ultracentrifugation and analytical band centrifugation, and contributed to the understanding of

DNA supercoil DNA supercoiling refers to the amount of twist in a particular DNA strand, which determines the amount of strain on it. A given strand may be "positively supercoiled" or "negatively supercoiled" (more or less tightly wound). The amount of a st ...

ing.

Education

Vinograd obtained his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. From 1931 to 1933 he studied colloid chemistry with Professor

Herbert Freundlich Herbert Max Finlay Freundlich (28 January 1880 in Charlottenburg – 30 March 1941 in Minneapolis) was a German chemist. Biography His father was of German Jewish descent, and his mother ( Finlay) was from Scotland. His younger brother w ...

at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, and from 1933 to 1935 continued his studies with Freundlich at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1936 he went to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and obtained a Master of Arts degree in organic chemistry with Professor

William G. Young William Glover Young (born September 23, 1940) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He was appointed in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan, ...

. In 1937 he married Sherna Shalett. He obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1940 with Professor James W. McBain at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with research on physical and colloid chemistry.

Career

From 1941 to 1951, Vinograd worked for the

Shell Development Company The Emeryville Research Center of Shell Development Company in Emeryville, California was a major research facility of Shell Oil Company in the United States from 1928 until 1972, when Shell Development relocated to Houston, Texas."Research in ph ...

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley, California, Berkeley and Oakland, California, Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisc ...

. During this period, his wife Sherna gave birth to their two daughters,

Julia Julia may refer to: People *Julia (given name), including a list of people with the name *Julia (surname), including a list of people with the name *Julia gens, a patrician family of Ancient Rome *Julia (clairvoyant) (fl. 1689), lady's maid of Qu ...

and

Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, ''Dəḇōrā'') was a prophetess of Judaism, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, and the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars contend that the phrase, "a woman of Lap ...

. In 1951 he became a senior research fellow at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, in Pasadena, California, where he remained for the rest of his career. In 1956 he became a research associate, and in 1965 he was promoted to professor of chemistry and biology. He pioneered the use of ultracentrifugation for the analysis of complex molecules, in particular DNA.

Awards and honors

In 1968, Vinograd was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. In 1970 he received the Kendall Award from the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

. In 1972, the

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation The Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, established in New York in 1943 by Joan Whitney Payson in cooperation with the estate planning of her mother, Helen Hay Whitney (1875–1944), awards the "Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship" for support p ...

gave him the T. Duckett Jones Award. He was invited to give a number of honorary lectures, including the Burroughs Wellcome Lecture at Harvard in 1970, the Jesse W. Beams Lecture at the University of Virginia in 1972, and the Falk-Plaut Lecture at Columbia University in 1972.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinograd, Jerome 1913 births 1976 deaths Scientists from Milwaukee Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American biochemists Colloid chemists