Samuel Krimm (born October 19, 1925) is an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

with a research focus in

biophysics Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations ...

(spectroscopy, macromolecules, protein folding). He is professor emeritus and research scientist emeritus at

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Education

Krimm earned a BS in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, from

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United St ...

(1947), and MS and

PhD 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 ...

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mech ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(1949, 1950).

Career highlights

Krimm was elected

fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

in 1959. In 1977, Krimm received the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

's Polymer Physics Prize "For his outstanding experimental studies and theoretical developments in infrared and Ra-man spectroscopy and X-ray scattering from natural and synthetic polymers". In 1983, he was awarded the

Humboldt Prize The Humboldt Research Award (), also known informally as the Humboldt Prize, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of Germany in recognition of ...

. From 1967-1972 he was doctoral advisor for

Willie Hobbs Moore Willie Hobbs Moore (May 23, 1934 – March 14, 1994) was an African American physicist and engineer. She is the first African American woman to earn a PhD in physics. Early life Willie Hobbs was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on May 23, ...

, who earned the first PhD in physics for an African-American woman at an American university. He was the first Director of the University of Michigan Program in Protein Structure and Design, created in 1985. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, on the infrared and Raman spectroscopy of synthetic polymers and proteins, and in the field of theoretical and computational studies of the structures of such macromolecules. In his most recent work, he and colleague/collaborator Noemi Mirkin have proposed a new paradigm in the field of protein folding they term "milieu folding" demonstrating that the presence of particular molecules in the surrounding aqueous environment of a protein molecule ("milieu") can alter the propensities for the folded structure of the protein. They suggest that this is a more appropriate framework than "misfolding" to explore and understand protein-folding diseases.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krimm, Samuel 1925 births Living people American biophysicists Fellows of the American Physical Society University of Michigan faculty Princeton University alumni Humboldt Research Award recipients Scientists from Morristown, New Jersey Scientists from New Jersey New York University Tandon School of Engineering alumni