Kurt Wüthrich

2025-07-29T14:22:09Z

2001:5A8:429C:1000:2090:AF4D:3FD1:31BB: updated photo

{{Short description|Swiss chemist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Kurt Wüthrich
| image = Kurt Wüthrich 01.jpg
| caption = Wüthrich in 2022
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1938|10|04|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Aarberg]], [[Switzerland]]
| field = {{Plainlist|
* [[Chemistry]]
* [[Nuclear magnetic resonance]]}}
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[ETH Zürich]]
* [[University of California, Berkeley]]
* [[The Scripps Research Institute|Scripps Institute]]
* [[University of Edinburgh]]
* [[ShanghaiTech University]]}}
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* [[Universität Bern]]
* [[Universität Basel]]}}
| doctoral_advisor = Silvio Fallab<ref>[https://www.scripps.edu/wuthrich/lab_members/wuthrich_professional.html Scripps: The Wüthrich Laboratory]</ref>
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = [[Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of proteins|Protein NMR]]<br>[[Transverse relaxation-optimized spectroscopy]]<br>[[ST2-PT]]
| prizes = {{Plainlist|
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] (2002)
* [[Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine]] (1993)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jeantet.ch/en/prix-louis-jeantet/laureats/1993-en/professeur-kurt-wuthrich/|title=Professor Kurt WÜTHRICH | Jeantet|date=1 October 2017}}</ref>
* [[Kyoto Prize]] (1998)
* [[Marcel Benoist Prize]] (1991)
* [[Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]] (1991)
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|ForMemRS]] (2010)}}
| footnotes =
| website = {{URL|https://www.scripps.edu/wuthrich}}
}}

'''Kurt Wüthrich''' (born 4 October 1938 in [[Aarberg]], [[Canton of Bern]]) is a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[chemist]]/[[biophysics|biophysicist]] and [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Chemistry]] [[Nobel laureate|laureate]], known for developing [[nuclear magnetic resonance]] (NMR) methods for studying biological [[macromolecules]].<ref>[http://www.mol.biol.ethz.ch/groups/wuthrich_group/wu_people/wkurt Kurt Wuthrich faculty page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040802231606/http://www.mol.biol.ethz.ch/groups/wuthrich_group/wu_people/wkurt |date=2 August 2004 }} at [[ETH Zürich]]</ref><ref>[http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/115 'An Interview with Kurt Wuthrich] Freeview video by the Vega Science Trust</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2002/wuthrich/lecture/|title=The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref><ref name=scrippshome>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704080134/http://www.scripps.edu/wuthrich/|archive-date=4 July 2013|url=http://www.scripps.edu/wuthrich/|title=Welcome to the Wüthrich Laboratory|publisher=Scripps Institute}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/044418/2020-08-17/|title=Wüthrich, Kurt|website=hls-dhs-dss.ch}}</ref>

== Education and early life ==
Born in [[Aarberg]], [[Switzerland]], Wüthrich was educated in [[chemistry]], [[physics]], and [[mathematics]] at the [[University of Bern]] before pursuing his [[PhD]] supervised by Silvio Fallab<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=Wüthrich's CV|url=http://www.scripps.edu/wuthrich/lab_members/wuthrich_cv.html|publisher=The Scripps Research Institute|access-date=9 December 2016}}</ref> at the [[University of Basel]], awarded in 1964.<ref name="Wüthrich2003">{{cite journal|last1=Wüthrich|first1=Kurt|journal=Journal of Biomolecular NMR|volume=27|issue=1|year=2003|pages=1–12|issn=0925-2738|title=Kurt Wüthrich: biographical note.|doi=10.1023/A:1024756526171|pmid=15143745 |s2cid=37721523}}</ref><ref name="PalmerPatel2002">{{cite journal|last1=Palmer|first1=Arthur G|last2=Patel|first2=Dinshaw J|title=Kurt Wüthrich and NMR of Biological Macromolecules|journal=Structure|volume=10|issue=12|year=2002|pages=1603–1604|issn=0969-2126|doi=10.1016/S0969-2126(02)00915-2|pmid=12467565|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Career ==
After his PhD, Wüthrich continued [[postdoctoral research]] with Fallab for a short time before leaving to work at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] for two years from 1965 with [[Robert E. Connick]]. That was followed by a stint working with [[Robert G. Shulman]] at the [[Bell Labs|Bell Telephone Laboratories]] in [[Murray Hill, New Jersey]] from 1967 to 1969.

Wüthrich returned to Switzerland, to [[Zürich]], in 1969, where he began his career there at the [[ETH Zürich]], rising to Professor of Biophysics by 1980. He currently maintains a laboratory at the [[ETH Zürich]], at [[The Scripps Research Institute]], in [[La Jolla, California]] and at the {{Proper name|iHuman Institute}} of [[ShanghaiTech University]]. He has also been a visiting professor at the [[University of Edinburgh]] (1997–2000), the [[Chinese University of Hong Kong]] (where he was an Honorary Professor) and [[Yonsei University]].<ref name="auto"/>

During his graduate studies Wüthrich started out working with [[electron paramagnetic resonance]] spectroscopy, and the subject of his PhD thesis was "the [[catalysis|catalytic]] activity of [[copper]] compounds in autoxidation reactions".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kurt Wüthrich – Life Paths |url=https://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/life-paths/laureate-wuethrich |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=Lindau Nobel Mediatheque |language=en}}</ref> During his time as a [[postdoc]] in [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]] he began working with the newly developed and related technique of [[nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy]] to study the hydration of [[metal complexes]]. When Wüthrich joined the Bell Labs, he was put in charge of one of the first [[superconducting]] NMR spectrometers, and started studying the structure and dynamics of proteins. He has pursued this line of research ever since.

After returning to Switzerland, Wüthrich collaborated with, among others, Nobel laureate [[Richard R. Ernst]] on developing the first two-dimensional NMR experiments, and established the [[nuclear Overhauser effect]] as a convenient way of measuring distances within [[protein]]s. This research later led to the complete assignment of resonances for among others the [[BPTI|bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor]] and [[glucagon]].

In October 2010, Wüthrich participated in the [[USA Science and Engineering Festival]]'s Lunch with a Laureate program where middle and high school students will get to engage in an informal conversation with a Nobel Prize–winning scientist over a brown-bag lunch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421005023/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/schoolprograms/lunchwithalaureate|url-status=dead|title=Usasciencefestival.org lunch with a laureate|archivedate=21 April 2010}}</ref> Wüthrich is also a member on the [[USA Science and Engineering Festival]]'s Advisory Board<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usasciencefestival.org/about/advisors|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421005310/http://www.usasciencefestival.org/about/advisors/|url-status=dead|title=Usasciencefestival.org|archivedate=21 April 2010}}</ref> and a supporter of the [[Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly]], an organisation which campaigns for democratic reform in the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/page/5/?mapcountry=allpro&mapgroup=pro|title=Overview|work=Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly|access-date=27 October 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>

Wüthrich is a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the [[World.minds|World.Minds]] Foundation, where he contributes to international dialogue on science, research, and innovation policy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Team – WORLD.MINDS |url=https://www.worldminds.org/team/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |language=en}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
He was awarded the [[Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize]] from [[Columbia University]] in 1991, the [[Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine]] in 1993, the [[Otto Warburg Medal]] in 1999 and half of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] in 2002 for "his development of [[nuclear magnetic resonance]] [[spectroscopy]] for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution". He received the Bijvoet Medal of the [[Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research]] of [[Utrecht University]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bijvoet-center.eu/bijvoet-medal/|title=Bijvoet Medal|publisher=Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912191415/http://bijvoet-center.eu/bijvoet-medal/|archive-date=12 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 2010|Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 2010]].<ref name=frs>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316060617/https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/|archive-date=16 March 2015|url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/|publisher=[[Royal Society]]|location=London|title=Fellows of the Royal Society}}</ref> He was also awarded the 2018 Fray International Sustainability Award at SIPS 2018 by FLOGEN Star Outreach.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flogen.org/?p=38&bio=Wuthrich|title=Kurt Wuthrich Winner of the Fray Award|website=www.flogen.org}}</ref>

== Personal details ==
On 2 April 2018, Dr. Wüthrich established permanent residency in [[Shanghai|Shanghai, China]], after obtaining a Chinese permanent residence card.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chinaplus.cri.cn/news/china/9/20180402/111418.html|title=Nobel Prize winner becomes permanent Shanghai resident|website=chinaplus.cri.cn|access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/1804022558/|title=Nobel Prize laureate becomes permanent Shanghai resident – SHINE|website=SHINE|language=en|access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==
* ''NMR in Biological Research: Peptides and Proteins'', American Elsevier Pub. Co, 1976<ref>{{cite book | last=Wüthrich | first=Kurt | title=NMR in biological research: peptides and proteins | publisher=North-Holland Publ. [u.a.] | publication-place=Amsterdam | date=1976 | isbn=0-444-11031-3 |oclc=1858425}}</ref>
* ''NMR of proteins and nucleic acids'', Wiley, 1986<ref>{{cite book | last=Wüthrich | first=Kurt | title=NMR of proteins and nucleic acids | publisher=J. Wiley & sons | publication-place=New York Chichester Brisbane [etc.] | date=1986 | isbn=0-471-82893-9|oclc=13425181}}</ref>
* ''NMR In Structural Biology: A Collection Of Papers By Kurt Wuthrich'', World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, 1995<ref>{{cite book | last=Wüthrich | first=Kurt | title=NMR in structural biology: a collection of papers by Kurt Wüthrich | publisher=World Scientific | publication-place=Singapore | date=1997 | isbn=981-02-2242-4|oclc=32589290}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Scholia|author}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture ''NMR Studies of Structure and Function of Biological Macromolecules''

{{2002 Nobel Prize Winners}}
{{Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureates 2001-2025}}
{{FRS 2010}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wuthrich, Kurt}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Aarberg]]
[[Category:Academic staff of ETH Zurich]]
[[Category:Duke University faculty]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Chemistry]]
[[Category:Nuclear magnetic resonance]]
[[Category:Swiss chemists]]
[[Category:Swiss biophysicists]]
[[Category:Swiss Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Swiss Protestants]]
[[Category:Scripps Research faculty]]
[[Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Bijvoet Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Kyoto laureates in Advanced Technology]]
[[Category:University of Bern alumni]]

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Kurt Wüthrich