Norman Davidson, a National Medal of Science winner whose groundbreaking work in molecular biology led to the earliest understanding of the overall structure of genomes, has died. He was 85.
Mr. Davidson, a professor emeritus at the California Institute of Technology, died Thursday, said Caltech President David Baltimore.
Not only was the professor prominent in his field for more than 50 years, he helped create it.
Mr. Davidson, a Chicago native who received his doctorate from the University of Chicago, pioneered methods in physical chemistry and electron microscopy, which proved useful for genetic mapping and exploring information properties of DNA and RNA.
“His movement into biology from a background in chemistry allowed him to play a special role in the development of molecular biology,” Baltimore said, adding that Mr. Davidson “symbolized the essence of the institute.”
When President Bill Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Science in 1996, he cited the scientist for “breakthroughs in chemistry and biology which have led to the earliest understanding of the overall structure of genomes.”
The professor was a founding member of the advisory council to the Human Genome Project.
