John Buchanan (biologist)
| John Buchanan | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Machlin Buchanan September 29, 1917 Winamac, Indiana |
| Died | June 25, 2007 (aged 89) Burlington, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Study of purine biosynthesis |
John Machlin Buchanan (September 29, 1917 – June 25, 2007) was an American professor of biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He arrived at MIT in 1953 and retired in 1988 after a distinguished career in which he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He played a key role in the development of MIT's Department of Biology as a major force in biochemistry research and was himself a prominent researcher of purine biosynthesis. He died in 2007 at age 89.
Buchanan was born in Winamac, Indiana in 1917. He became interested in a career in science during a high school chemistry course. He attended DePauw University as an undergraduate, where he gained his first scientific research experience, and from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1938. He received his M.S. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1939, and later identified the head of its chemistry department, Howard B. Lewis, as a key influence in his research career. Buchanan received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1943 under the supervision of Albert Baird Hastings.
Buchanan arrived at MIT in 1953 after reaching the rank of full professor at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He had been heavily recruited by the head of what was then called the Department of Molecular Biology, Francis O. Schmitt. He became the head of the Division of Biochemistry and quickly began recruiting faculty interested in biochemistry research, including Gene Brown, Vernon Ingram, Salvador Luria, Paul Schimmel, Phil Robbins and Lisa Steiner (the first woman faculty member in the department, hired in 1967). He also sought out more senior scientists to bring to MIT, including Cyrus Levinthal, Maurice Fox and Alexander Rich. James Killian, the MIT president responsible for recruiting Buchanan, described the hire as among the most important and expensive hires he made, because the department's biochemistry division under Buchanan's leadership quickly became widely well-regarded in the field. Later, as biochemistry became more established, Buchanan opposed some of the decisions made in the department, such as the shutdown of the Division of Biochemistry under department head Boris Magasanik and the planning under subsequent department head Gene Brown to launch the Whitehead Institute.
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