Seymour Benzer

Seymour Benzer (October 15, 1921 – November 30, 2007) was an American physicist, molecular biologist and behavioral geneticist. His career began during the molecular biology revolution of the 1950s, and he eventually rose to prominence in the fields of molecular and behavioral genetics. He led a productive genetics research lab both at Purdue University and as the James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology.

Early life and education

Benzer was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, to Meyer B. and Eva Naidorf, both Jews from Poland. He had two older sisters, and his parents favored him as the only boy. One of Benzer's earliest scientific experiences was dissecting frogs he had caught as a boy. In an interview at Caltech, Benzer also remembered receiving a microscope for his 13th birthday, “and that opened up the whole world.” The book "Arrowsmith" by Sinclair Lewis heavily influenced the young Benzer, and he even imitated the handwriting of Max Gottlieb, a scientist character in the novel. Benzer graduated from high school at 15 years old.

In 1938 he enrolled at Brooklyn College where he majored in physics. Benzer then moved on to Purdue University to earn his Ph.D. in solid state physics. While there he was recruited for a secret military project to develop improved radar. He performed research that led to the development of stable germanium rectifiers and discovered a germanium crystal able to be used at high voltages, among the scientific work that led to the first transistor.

Personal life

At Brooklyn College, as a sixteen-year-old freshman, Benzer met Dorothy Vlosky (nicknamed Dotty), a twenty-one-year-old nurse. He later married her in New York City in 1942. They had two daughters, Barbie (Barbara) and Martha Jane.

Benzer died of a stroke at the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California.

Honors and awards

• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1959)
• Gairdner Foundation International Award (1964)
• Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (1971)
• Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University (1976),
• Harvey Prize (1977)
• National Medal of Science (1982)
• Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal (1986)
• Wolf Prize in Medicine (1991)
• Crafoord Prize (1993)
• International Prize for Biology (2000)
• NAS Award in the Neurosciences from the National Academy of Sciences (2001)
• March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (2003)
• Gairdner Foundation International Award (2004) (second award)
• Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science (2004)
• Albany Medical Center Prize (2006)
• He was a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the Royal Society.