Judith Klinman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Judith Pollock Klinman
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | April 17, 1941 |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania A.B. (1962), Ph.D. (1966) |
| Awards | National Medal of Science (2012) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry Chemistry |
| Institutions | University of California at Berkeley |
| Thesis | A Kinetic Study of the Hydrolysis and Imidazole-Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Substituted Benzoyl Imidazole in Light and Heavy Water (1966) |
| Doctoral advisor | Edward R. Thornton |
| Doctoral students | Natalie Ahn |
Judith P. Klinman (born April 17, 1941) is an American scientist. She is a chemist and biochemist. She is famous for her important work on how enzymes help chemical reactions happen.
In 1978, she became the first female professor in the science departments at the University of California, Berkeley. She still teaches there today. In 2012, she received the National Medal of Science. This is one of the highest awards for scientists in the United States.
Contents
Early Life and School
Judith Klinman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When she was young, her father left the family. Her mother moved them to Florida for a while. Then they returned to Philadelphia so her mother could find work. Judith was raised by her mother and stepfather. Neither of her parents finished college.
Judith first loved ballet. But her high school chemistry teacher made her interested in chemistry. She earned a scholarship from her high school, Overbrook High School. She graduated as the second-best student in her class. She decided to go to the University of Pennsylvania, even though her family wanted her to become a lab technician and get married.
College and Early Research
Judith Klinman started studying chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1958. While in college, she worked as a lab helper. She graduated with her chemistry degree in 1962.
She then applied to both medical school and graduate school. She got into both! In 1962, she started her graduate studies in chemistry at New York University (NYU). She said her time at NYU helped her see how exciting and beautiful organic chemistry reactions were.
After a year, she moved back to Philadelphia. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked with Professor Edward R. Thornton. She studied how certain chemicals called imidazoles break down. She earned her Ph.D. in 1966.
Postdoctoral Studies Abroad
In 1966, Dr. Klinman traveled to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She did more research there with Professor David Samuel. She worked in a department that had a lot of "heavy water." This special water helped her study how fast chemical reactions happen. She learned about how metal ions help break down certain energy-rich chemicals. While in Israel, she lived through the Six-Day War in 1967.
She and her husband, Norman R. Klinman, left Israel in 1967. Her husband was doing research in Mill Hill, London. Judith found a way to work at University College London (UCL). She also took biochemistry classes there.
Return to the United States
In 1968, Dr. Klinman and her husband came back to the United States. Judith started working at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR). This was part of the Fox Chase Cancer Center. She joined the lab of Irwin Rose. There, she studied how an enzyme called aconitate isomerase works. This enzyme helps change the shape of a molecule called aconitate. She also studied other enzymes.
Becoming a Professor
In 1972, Dr. Klinman became an independent staff scientist at the Institute for Cancer Research. This was like being an Assistant Professor. In 1974, she became an Assistant Professor of Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1978, she moved to the University of California, Berkeley. She became an Associate Professor in Chemistry. This was a big deal because she was the first female professor in the physical sciences at UC Berkeley!
Today, she is a Professor of the Graduate School at UC Berkeley. She works in the Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology departments. She also works at the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences.
Important Discoveries
Dr. Klinman's research group has made amazing discoveries. They found that "hydrogen tunneling" can happen in many enzyme reactions. This means tiny hydrogen atoms can sometimes move through barriers in a way that seems impossible. It's like a shortcut! They also found new types of helper molecules called "quino-enzymes." These molecules help enzymes with chemical reactions.
Awards and Honors
Dr. Klinman has received many awards for her important work:
- 1988 Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1993 Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1994 Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
- 2001 Elected to the American Philosophical Society
- 2006 Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania
- 2007 Elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 2009 Elected to the Royal Society of Chemistry
- 2014 National Medal of Science
- 2015 Mildred Cohn Award in Biological Chemistry
- 2017 Willard Gibbs Award
Personal Life
Judith Klinman was married to Norman R. Klinman. He became a professor of immunology. They met at the University of Pennsylvania and married while she was finishing her Ph.D. They had two sons, Andrew and Douglas. Andrew was born while she was in graduate school. Douglas was born while she was doing research in Israel. Judith and Norman divorced in 1978.
Later, Judith Klinman married Mordechai Mitnick. He was a community organizer who later became a therapist in Oakland, California. They raised four children together: Alexandra, Joshua, Andrew, and Douglas.
Videos
- 2012 - National Medals of Science (National Science & Technology Medals Foundation)
- 2014 - Thriving in Science Lecture: "Not Going It Alone"
- 2018 - NSF/JHU Quantum Biology and Quantum Processes in Biology Workshop - "Tunneling in Biology"
- 2020 - Interviewing Eminent Scientists - Prof. Judith Klinman
- 2022 - G.N. Lewis Lecture - "At the Interface of Quantum and Classical Behavior in Enzyme Catalysis"
See also
In Spanish: Judith Klinman para niños
