Robert H. Burris (April 13, 1914 – May 11, 2010) was a professor in the

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 ...

Department at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. He 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 1961. Research in Burris's lab focused on

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

reaction mechanisms, and he made significant contributions to our knowledge of

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 ...

Education

Born in

Brookings, South Dakota Brookings is a city in and the county seat of Brookings County, South Dakota, Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 23,377 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in South Dakota, fo ...

, Burris earned his B.S. degree in chemistry at South Dakota State University in 1936 and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1940.

Career

He did postdoctoral research with Harold Urey at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and later moved back to Madison, eventually becoming a professor in the biochemistry department. He was chairman of the department from 1958 to 1970. He retired from active research in 1984, having trained more than 70 doctoral research students. He died in 2010 aged 96.

Awards and distinctions

*1961 – Elected to the National Academy of Sciences *1975 – Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

*1979 – Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

*1979 –

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

*1984 – John J. Carty Award of the National Academy of Sciences in agricultural science *1985 – Wolf Prize in Agriculture *1989 – Kenneth A. Spencer Award for Meritorious Achievement in Agricultural and Food Chemistry * Recognized as a Pioneer Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burris, Robert H. 1914 births 2010 deaths American biochemists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty South Dakota State University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni National Medal of Science laureates Wolf Prize in Agriculture laureates Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Brookings, South Dakota Members of the American Philosophical Society