Kurt Wüthrich

Kurt Wüthrich begins his interview by discussing the emergence of his interest in chemistry during his high school years, where a highly qualified group of professors taught him. He originally intended to become a sports instructor and received a degree equivalent to an M.S. in sports at the University of Basel. However, he remained interested in the sciences and divided his time between sports, physics, and chemistry, and in March 1964 he received his Ph.D. in chemistry, doing research with an electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer (EPR) to study the catalytic action of metal compounds. After receiving his Ph.D. in Basel, he traveled to the University of California, Berkeley, to do his postdoctoral research in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. He was then offered a position in Bell Telephone Laboratories Biophysics Department and, in 1969, he traveled back to Switzerland to work at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, were he continued his research, rising through the ranks from Privatdozent to Chairman of the Biology Department. He concludes his interview by discussing his continued research in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a Professor of Biophysics at ETH Zürich and a Professor of Structural Biology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

University of Basel

1964 - 1965 Postdoctoral training

University of California, Berkeley

1965 - 1967 Postdoctoral training

Bell Telephone Laboratories

1967 - 1969 Member of Technical Staff, Biophysics Department

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule)

1970 - 1972 Privadozent

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule)

1972 - 1976 Assistant Professor of Biophysics

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule)

1976 - 1980 Associate Professor of Biophysics

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule)

1980 - Present Professor of Biophysics

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule)

1995 - 2000 Chairman of Biology Department

Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California

2001 - 2004 Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Visiting Professor of Structural Biology

Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California

2004 - Present Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Professor of Structural Biology

David C. Brock

David C. Brock is a senior research fellow with the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. As a historian of science and technology, he specializes in the history of semiconductor science, technology, and industry; the history of instrumentation; and oral history. Brock has studied the philosophy, sociology, and history of science at Brown University, the University of Edinburgh, and Princeton University.

In the policy arena Brock recently published Patterning the World: The Rise of Chemically Amplified Photoresists, a white-paper case study for the Center’s Studies in Materials Innovation. With Hyungsub Choi he is preparing an analysis of semiconductor technology roadmapping, having presented preliminary results at the 2009 meeting of the Industry Studies Association.