Congratulations to Brittany Smith for being named the 2015 Gary K. Ackers Fellow
Brittany is a first-year graduate student in the Computational and Molecular Biophysics program. She is currently doing a rotation in the lab of Dr. Greg Bowman. The Ackers Fellowship award provides funds for educational expenses.
The Acker fellowship was funded by Dr. Paul Darling III, who studied in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences and graduated in 1999. Dr. Ackers served as the thesis advisor for Dr. Darling.
About Dr. Gary Ackers:
Dr. Ackers, who passed away in 2011, joined Washington University School of Medicine in 1989 as the Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry. He served in this capacity unNl 1996, when he stepped down to devote more time to research and teaching. While head of the department, Dr. Ackers established a world-renowned group of biophysics-oriented faculty, created a Molecular Biophysics graduate program focusing on quantitative measurements of biological processes and computational modeling of complex behaviors, and expanded the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. He became professor emeritus in 2007.
Dr. Ackers was a pioneer in the development of methods and application of principles of equilibrium thermodynamics to the study of linkage in complex macromolecular assemblies. His more than 200 articles and chapters changed our view of the molecular mechanisms that govern complex biochemical reactions. He was known equally for the rigor of his experimental methods and his sense of humor, and was deeply gratified by the success of the graduate and postdoctoral students who trained in his laboratory. You may learn much more about his illustrious career at biochem.wustl.edu/archives/gary-k-ackers.