The Evolution of Molecular Biology

Kensal van Holde is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biophysics and Biochemistry at Oregon State University. Dr. van Holde has made significant contributions to the field of chromatin structure and dynamics, for which he was awarded the highly prestigious American Cancer Society Research Professorship in 1977. His second major research interest was focused on protein structure and function. The scientific contributions of Dr. van Holde have been recognized by election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and numerous awards and fellowships, including Guggenheim, NSF, and EMBO. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 scientific papers, as well as multiple well-received and well-known books. His teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate chemistry and molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and also the physiology and molecular biology course at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, MA. In 1999, Dr. van Holde received the Emily M. Gray Biophysical Society award for teaching and education publication in Biophysical Chemistry. In 2012, he received the Monie A. Ferst Award from the Scientific Society Sigma Xi; this Award is granted specifically for excellence in graduate education. Jordanka Zlatanova is Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology at the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Wyoming. She founded and chaired the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Institute of Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, before moving to the United States to work as a Senior Research Professor in the laboratory of Dr. van Holde, with whom she shares an interest in chromatin structure and dynamics. After time at the Argonne National Laboratory as a Deputy Director of the Biochip Technology Center and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of NY University, she moved to Wyoming to chair the Department of Molecular Biology. Dr. Zlatanova has published more than 200 papers and co-authored or co-edited multiple research books. Her teaching experience includes undergraduate and graduate courses in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, microbiology, genetics, and general biology.