James D. Watson was born in Chicago in 1928. After graduation from the University of Chicago, he worked in genetics at Indiana University, receiving his Ph.D. in 1950. He spent a year at the University of Copenhagen, followed by two years at the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University, England. There he met Francis Crick, and the collaboration resulted in their 1953 proposal of a structure for DNA. After a two-year period at Cal Tech, he joined the faculty at Harvard, where he remained as professor of biochemistry and molecular biology until 1976. In 1962, together with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, Dr. Watson was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
James D. Watson was Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratoryfrom 1968 to 1993 and is now its President. He spent his undergraduateyears at the University of Chicago and received his Ph.D. in 1950 fromIndiana University. Between 1950 and 1953, he did postdoctoral researchin Copenhagen and Cambridge, England. While at Cambridge, he began thecollaboration that resulted in the elucidation of the double-helicalstructure of DNA in 1953. (For this discovery, Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962.) Later in1953, he went to the California Institute of Technology. He moved toHarvard in 1955, where he taught and did research on RNA synthesis andprotein synthesis until 1976. He was the first Director of the NationalCenter for Genome Research of the National Institutes of Health from1989 to 1992. Dr. Watson was sole author of the first, second, and thirdeditions of "Molecular Biology of the Gene, and a co-author of the fourthedition. These were published in 1965, 1970, 1976, and 1987respectively. Watson has also been involved in two other textbooks: he was one of theoriginal authors of "Molecular Biology of the Cell and is also an author of"Recombinant DNA: a short course.
Tania A. Baker is the Whitehead Professor of Biology at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology and an Investigator of the HowardHughes Medical Institute. She received a B.S. in biochemistry from theUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry fromStanford University in 1988. Her graduate research was carried out inthe laboratory of Professor Arthur Kornberg and focused on mechanisms ofinitiation of DNA replication. She did postdoctoral research in thelaboratory ofDr. Kiyoshi Mizuuchi at the National Institutes of Health, studying the mechanism and regulation of DNA transposition. Her currentresearch explores mechanisms and regulation of genetic recombination, enzyme-catalyzed protein unfolding, and ATP-dependent proteindegradation. Professor Baker received the 2001 Eli Lilly Research Awardfrom the American Society of Microbiology and the 2000 MIT School ofScience Teaching Prize for Undergraduate Education. She is co-author(with Arthur Kornberg) of the book "DNA Replication, Second Edition.
Stephen P. Bell is a Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology and an Assistant Investigator of the Howard Hughes MedicalInstitute. He received B.A. degrees in biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology and the Integrated Sciences Program at Northwestern University and a Ph.D. inbiochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1991. Hisgraduate research was carried out in the laboratory of Robert Tjian andfocused on eukaryotic transcription. He did postdoctoral research in thelaboratory of Dr. Bruce Stillman at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, working on the initiation of eukaryotic DNA replication. His currentresearch focuses on the mechanisms controlling the duplication ofeukaryotic chromosomes. Professor Bell received the 2001 ASBMB?cheringPlough Scientific Achievement Award, and the Everett Moore BakerMemorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at MIT in 1998.
Alexander Gann is Editorial Director of Textbooks at Cold Spring HarborLaboratory Press, and a faculty member of the Watson School ofBiological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He received hisB.Sc in microbiology from University CollegeLondon and a Ph.D. inmolecular biology from The University of Edinburgh in 1989. His graduateresearch was carried out in the laboratory of Noreen Murray and focusedon DNA recognition by restriction enzymes. He did postdoctoral researchin the laboratory of Mark Ptashne at Harvard, working on transcriptionalregulation, and that of Jeremy Brockes at the Ludwig Institute of CancerResearch at University College London, where he worked on newt limbregeneration. He was a Lecturer at Lancaster University, England, from1996 to 1999, before moving to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He isco-author (with Mark Ptashne) of the book "Genes & Signals (2002).
Michael Levine is a Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and is also Co-Director at the Centerfor Integrative Genomics. He received his B.A. from the Department ofGenetics at U.C. Berkeley, and his Ph.D. with Alan Garen in theDepartment of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale Universityin 1981. As a postdoctoral fellow with Walter Gehring and Gerry Rubinfrom 1982-1984, he studied the molecular genetics of Drosophiladevelopment. Professor Levine's research group currently studies the gene networks responsible for the gastrulation of the Drosophila and Ciona (sea squirt) embryos. He holds the F. Williams Chair inGenetics and Development at U.C. Berkeley. He was awarded the MonsantoPrize in Molecular Biology from the National Academy of Sciences in1996, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996 and the National Academy of Sciences in 1998.
Richard M. Losick is the Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology, aHarvard College Professor, and a Howard Hughes MedicalInstituteProfessor in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard University. Hereceived his A.B. in chemistry at Princeton University and his Ph.D. inbiochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Uponcompletion of his graduate work, Professor Losick was named a JuniorFellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows when he began his studies onRNA polymerase and the regulation of gene transcription in bacteria.Professor Losick is a past Chairman of the Departments of Cellular andDevelopmental Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology at HarvardUniversity. He received the Camille and Henry Dreyfuss Teacher-ScholarAward, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the AmericanAcademy of Microbiology, and a former Visiting Scholar of the Phi BetaKappa Society.
Alexander Gann (the Lita Annenberg Hazen Dean-Elect) is a member of the faculty of the Watson School of Biological Sciences.
As the founder of one of the country's most prominent entertainment P.R. firms, Michael Levine has been called "one of Hollywood's brightest and most respected executives" by "USA Today". He lives in Los Angeles.
