Karl August Folkers

Karl was an influential bio chemist who worked for Merck for most of his career. Famous for his work in antibiotic development and isolation of vitamin b-12. Received the Perkins Medal in 1960.

According to biography by William Shive in the National Academies Press, he won many honors throughout his career including "Karl created the Folkers Foundation to support continued development of biochemical research on causes of human disease. His lifelong pursuit was to discover such causes and identify means to improve the life and health of those afflicted with various diseases. This work will be continued in the research supported by the Foundation--a fitting and permanent legacy of the life of Karl Folkers.

Karl, with his cadre of outstanding collaborators, published more than 700 papers in scientific journals and presented an equally large list of papers at scientific meetings and invited lectures. For his outstanding work he received honorary doctoral degrees in science from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (1962), University of Uppsala, Sweden (1969), University of Illinois (1973), and the University of Wisconsin (1970) and an honorary degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Bologna, Italy (1989).

Other awards spanned a significant spectrum of recognition by a variety of organizations and included the Presidential Certificate of Merit (1948); Harrison Howe Award, Rochester Section (1949); Scientific Award, Board of Directors, Merck and Co., Inc. (1951); Spencer Award, Kansas City Section (1959); Perkin Medal, Society of Chemical Industry (1960); Scroll Award, National Association of Manufacturers (1965); Nichols Medal, New York Section (1967); Robert A. Welch International Award and Medal (1972); Research Award, J. D. and C. T. MacArthur Foundation (1981); Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society (1986); President's National Medal of Science (1990); Karl Folkers Centennial Research Award (first recipient), Rutgers University (1992); and Infinity Award, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (1996). "

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