Two Caltech Faculty Receive Franklin Medals

PASADENA—Two members of the California Institute of Technology faculty, chemist Harry Gray and biologist Seymour Benzer, are among this year's recipients of the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Medals.

The honor is bestowed annually by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia to outstanding American scientists and technologists. Approaching its 180th anniversary, the Franklin Medal has been presented in the past to Albert Einstein, Samuel F. B. Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Steven Hawking, Gordon Moore, Jane Goodall, and Noam Chomsky, among others. Past recipients have also won 103 Nobel Prizes through the years.

Gray, who is being recognized for his work in metalloproteins, is the Beckman Professor of Chemistry and founding director of the Beckman Institute at Caltech. A Caltech professor since 1966, he served as chair of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from 1978 to 1984. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, received the National Medal of Science in 1986, and is also the recipient of the Wolf Prize and the Harvey Prize. Gray was named a foreign member of Great Britain's Royal Society, as well as a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Benzer is the Boswell Professor of Neuroscience, Emeritus, at Caltech, and a preeminent molecular biologist who has worked on phage genetics, nervous system development, and behavioral genetics of the fruit fly. He has been at Caltech since 1965. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received the National Medal of Science in 1983, and is also the recipient of the Lasker Award, the Wolf Prize, the Crafoord Prize, and the Harvey Prize. He is a member of the Royal Society and the American Philosophical Society.

Benzer and Gray will be honored in Philadelphia on April 29 at the annual Franklin Institute Awards Ceremony and Dinner, which is held in the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.