William J. Rutter (born August 28, 1928) is an American biochemist who cofounded the early biotechnology company Chiron Corporation together with Edward Penhoet and

Pablo DT Valenzuela Pablo Valenzuela (; born June 13, 1941) is a Chilean biochemist dedicated to biotechnology development. He is known for his genetic studies of hepatitis viruses; participated as a research and development director in the discovery of hepatitis C ...

. As chairman of the department of biochemistry and biophysics of the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

, Rutter helped establish that department as a leader in the academic side of the biotechnology during the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

biotech boom of the 1980s.Biographical Statement", Register of the William J. Rutter Papers, MSS 94-54, Archives & Special Collections, UCSF Library & CKM. Accessed March 8, 2009.
/ref> Rutter spent a short time in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and one year

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, before completing a B.A. (1949) in biochemistry at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He earned an M.S. (1950) from

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

and a PhD (1952) from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

with a dissertation on

galactosemia Galactosemia (British galactosaemia, from Greek γαλακτόζη + αίμα, meaning galactose + blood, accumulation of galactose in blood) is a rare genetics, genetic Metabolism, metabolic Disease, disorder that affects an individual's ability t ...

. Between 1952 and 1968, Rutter held positions at the

University of Wisconsin 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 ...

, the

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...

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 ...

, and

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. In 1969, he moved to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he led the department of biochemistry and biophysics until 1982. From 1983 until 1989, Rutter was director of the Hormone Research Institute at UCSF which is now the Diabetes Center at UCSF. In 1996, Rutter won the 2nd Annual

Heinz Awards The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Economy and the Envir ...

in Technology, the Economy and Employment and in 2003, he received the Biotechnology Heritage Award, from the

Biotechnology Industry Organization The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the largest advocacy association in the world representing the biotechnology industry. It was founded in 1993 as the Biotechnology Industry Organization from a merger of the Industrial Biotechno ...

(BIO) and the

Chemical Heritage Foundation The Science History Institute is an institution that preserves and promotes understanding of the history of science. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it includes a library, museum, archive, research center and conference center. It was ...

References

External links

William J. Rutter Papers
MSS 94-54, Archives & Special Collections, UCSF Library & CKM {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutter, William J. 1928 births Living people American biochemists American biotechnologists Brigham Young University alumni Harvard University alumni University of Utah alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Stanford University Department of Biology faculty University of California, San Francisco faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates