Alan Lambowitz

Lambowitz graduated Summa cum laude with honors from Brooklyn College. In 1995 he was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Following this in 2001 he was named a Fellow within the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2004, he was named a Fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology and named a Member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas. Most recently he was awarded with the Wilbur Cross Medal by Yale University for his outstanding achievements in scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and public service.

During his postdoctoral work, Lambowitz investigated a common mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation and discovered that the mechanism was incorrect. Lambowitz once again moved in 1973 to Rockefeller University. Here he had the opportunity to work with David Luck, a prominent name in the discovery of mitochondrial DNA. After a stint at Rockefeller University, Lambowitz pursued a fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health, followed by an acceptance of a faculty position at St Louis University School of Medicine under the department of biochemistry. Here he took part in work surrounding Neurospora strains and examining the mitochondrial DNA that exists within them. In 1986 Lambowitz took a position with the Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at Ohio State University. A majority of his work here centered around mitochondrial plasmid DNA found within fungal strains. Upon returning to St. Louis, Lambowitz promptly began studying splicing mechanisms of ribosomal RNA processing systems. Although he’s not responsible for the discovery of splicing, the research that follows this within the bacterial community can largely be attributed to him, especially when regarding groups 2 introns. Lambowitz made the move to Austin, Texas in 1997 becoming the director of The Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology there. Here he has cultivated a group of professionals that work on molecular biological research and received multiple merit awards in the process.

Alan Lambowitz was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 24, 1947. Growing up he attended Stuyvesant High School, a school specialized in science. Following high school, he attended Brooklyn College for his undergraduate degree in Chemistry. Upon completing this degree in 1968, Lambowitz promptly began graduate school at Yale where he continued his love for science in the laboratory. He received a Ph.D. from Yale and then decided to move his work to the Johnson Research Foundation at the University of Pennsylvania.