Biography
James Dewey Watson (April 6, 1928 – November 6, 2025) was an American molecular biologist , geneticist , and zoologist . In 1953, he and Francis Crick co-authored an academic paper in Nature proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule , building on research by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling . In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material". Watson graduated from the University of Chicago in 1947 and received his doctorate from Indiana University Bloomington in 1950. After a post-doctoral year at the University of Copenhagen with Herman Kalckar and Ole Maaløe, Watson worked at the University of Cambridge 's Cavendish Laboratory in England, where he met his future collaborator Francis Crick. From 1956 to 1976, Watson was employed by the faculty of the Harvard University Biology Department, promoting research in molecular biology. From 1968, Watson served as the director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in Laurel Hollow, New York , greatly expanding its level of funding and research. At CSHL, he shifted his research emphasis to the study of cancer, along with making it a world-leading research center in molecular biology. In 1994, Watson started as president and served for 10 years. He was then appointed chancellor, serving until his resignation in 2007 after making comments claiming that there is a genetic link between race and intelligence . In 2019, after the broadcast of a documentary where Watson reiterated these views on race and genetics , CSHL revoked his honorary titles and severed all ties with him. Fields: Genetics Education: University of Chicago BS Indiana University Bloomington PhD
About the Lasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels."
Quick Facts
- Award: Lasker Award - Basic Medical Research
- Added: 2026-02-07
- Source: Wikipedia
- Established: 1946
- Presented by: Lasker Foundation