Stephen L. Mayo (born 1961) is a professor 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 ...

, where he is the William K. Bowes Jr. Leadership Chair in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, and the Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry. His research focuses on

structural biology Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

and the development of computational methods for

protein design Protein design is the rational design of new protein molecules to design novel activity, behavior, or purpose, and to advance basic understanding of protein function. Proteins can be designed from scratch (''de novo'' design) or by making calcul ...

. Mayo was elected to the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

in 2004 and was appointed to a six-year term on the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President of the United States, president and the United ...

in 2013.

Early life and education

One of three sons, Mayo was born in 1961. His father had a career in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

and his mother worked as a teacher's aide. Mayo attended

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

as an undergraduate and received a B.S. in chemistry in 1983. He received his Ph.D. from

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

in 1987, after working on several projects primarily with Harry B. Gray and Bill Goddard. While a graduate student, Mayo co-founded a company, Molecular Simulations, Inc., which would later become

Accelrys BIOVIA is a software company headquartered in the United States, with representation in Europe and Asia. It provides software for chemical, materials and bioscience research for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, consumer packaged goods, aerospa ...

(now Biov a). After a stint as a

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary academ ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, Mayo spent two years working at MSI full-time before taking up another postdoc position 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 ...

Academic career

Mayo joined the Caltech faculty in 1992. In 1994 he was Awarded the Searle Scholar Award. A 1995 report identified him as the only black faculty member at Caltech, which had about 300 faculty at the time. He earned

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

in 1998, the first black faculty member to do so at Caltech. In 2004, Mayo was elected to the

, at a relatively young and impressive age for that honor. He served as Vice Provost for Research from 2007 to 2010, when he became chair of the biology division. In 2012 he was named the inaugural William K. Bowes, Jr. Leadership Chair.

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

nominated Mayo in 2013 to a six-year term on the

, making Caltech the only institution with two board representatives. (The other is astronomer

Anneila Sargent Anneila Isabel Sargent (née Cassells; born 1942) is a Scottish–American astronomer who specializes in star formation. Biography Sargent was brought up in Burntisland, Fife, and schooled at Burntisland Primary School and Kirkcaldy High S ...

, appointed in 2011.)

Entrepreneurship

Mayo co-founded the software company Molecular Simulations, Inc (MSI) while in graduate school, worked there full-time for two years, and continued consulting work thereafter. The company later became

(now Biovia). In 1997 Mayo and a former student co-founded Xencor, a

biotechnology company Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...

based on

antibodies An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as bacteria and viruses, including those that caus ...

. Mayo is also a co-founder and current scientific advisory board member of Protabit.

Research

Mayo's research group focuses on the study of

, including development of computational methods and software tools to facilitate the design of proteins for specific uses, such as development of

and red

fluorescent protein Fluorescent proteins include: * Green fluorescent protein The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a protein that exhibits green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultraviolet range. The label ''GFP'' traditionally refers to the ...

s, commonly used as research reagents. Mayo's group is credited with the first computational design from physical principles and successful experimental validation of a

protein sequence Protein primary structure is the linear sequence of amino acids in a peptide or protein. By convention, the primary structure of a protein is reported starting from the amino-terminal (N) end to the carboxyl-terminal (C) end. Protein biosynthe ...

that folds into a designed structure. In 2008 Mayo became one of the inaugural awardees of the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship to use protein design techniques to develop

antiviral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Antiviral drugs are a class of antimicrobials ...

compounds.

Personal life

Mayo was once a nationally ranked

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

pilot, and credits his interest in flying to his father's Air Force career. Mayo and his wife, a

science writer Science journalism conveys reporting about science to the public. The field typically involves interactions between scientists, journalists and the public. Origins Modern science journalism originated in weather and other natural history obs ...

, have two children and enjoy

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

as a hobby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Stephen L. California Institute of Technology faculty California Institute of Technology alumni Eberly College of Science alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American biophysicists 21st-century African-American scientists 1961 births Living people 21st-century African-American academics 21st-century American academics 20th-century African-American academics 20th-century American academics