Du Vigneaud, Vincent
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Faculty
Vincent du Vigneaud (1901-1978) was a Professor of Biochemistry at the George Washington University from 1932-1938, and winner if the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1955. du Vigneaud was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 18, 1901. He received his B.S. degree in 1923 and his M.S. degree in 1924 under Professor C. S. Marvel from the University of Illinois. In 1924-25 he was Assistant Biochemist to Dr. W. G. Karr at the Philadelphia General Hospital and was on the staff of the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.
The University of Rochester School of Medicine conferred the Ph.D. degree upon him in 1927. His thesis work was carried out with Professor John R. Murlin at the School of Medicine. As a National Research Council Fellow, du Vigneaud worked with Professor John J. Abel at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, with Professor Max Bergmann at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Dresden, with Professor George Barger at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and with Professor Charles R. Harington at the University College Hospital Medical School in London.
Returning to the United States, he joined the physiological chemical staff under Professor W. C. Rose at the University of Illinois, and in 1932 became Head of the Department of Biochemistry at George Washington University School of Medicine. du Vigneaud was invited to come to Cornell University Medical College as Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry in 1938. In 1967 he became Professor of Biochemistry Emeritus.
du Vigneaud received the Hillebrand Award in 1936 from the Washington Chemical Society, the Mead Johnson Vitamin B Complex Award of the American Institute of Nutrition in 1942, and the Nichols Medal from the New York Section of the American Chemical Society in 1945. In 1947 he was given the Borden Award by the Association of American Medical Colleges, in 1948 the Lasker Award from the American Public Health Association and the Award of Merit for War Research, in 1953 the Osborne and Mendel Award, in 1954 the John Scott Award from the City of Philadelphia and the Scientific Award of the American Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association, and in 1955 the Passano Award from the Passano Foundation and the Chandler Medal of Columbia University.
He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1955 for "work on biochemically important sulfur compounds, especially for the first. synthesis of a polypeptide hormone". In 1956 he was awarded the Willard Gibbs Medal of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society, in 1959 he was the recipient of the Achievement Award of the University of Illinois, and in 1961 he received the Nutrition Foundation Twentieth Anniversary Award. In 1963 he received the Seventh Annual Honorary Lectureship Award from Albany Medical College. He was the Pirquet Society of Clinical Medicine Medalist in 1964. He received th.American College of Physicians Award in 1965 and The Eli Lily Lecture Award of The Endocrine Society in 1967.
He was the recipient of honorary Sc.D. degrees from New York University and Yale University in 1955 and from the University of Illinois in 1960, from the University of Rochester and St. Louis University in 1965, and from GW in 1968.
He was elected in 1944 to membership in the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences (chairman, section of Biochemistry, 1958-1960). In 1950 he was elected to membership in the Royal Society of Sciences of Uppsala, in 1951 was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in 1954, an Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society (London), in 1959 an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry (London), and in 1961 an Honorary Member of the Sociedad Argentina de Biologia. He was made an Honorary Member of the Chemists' Club (New York) in 1963. He served on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases from 1960 until 1964. He was a Past President of the American Society of Biological Chemists and of the Harvey Society.
du Vigneaud's research centered mainly about sulfur containing compounds of biochemical importance, being concerned originally with the sulfur of insulin and then with two hormones of the posterior pituitary gland - oxytocin and vasopressin. In addition to these investigations, his work included studies on intermediary metabolism, amino acids and peptides, transmethylation and metabolism of one-carbon compounds, transulfuration, biotin, and penicillin.
Vincent du Vigneaud died on December 11, 1978.
The following is his citation for the Honorary Doctor of Science that was given him by GW February 22, 1968:
Among the problems facing medical science today, none is more challenging than the elucidation of the relations between structure of substance in our internal and external environment and their biological effects. The man we now honor has been a pioneer and leader in this field.
A native of Illinois, he received his formal university education at the Universities of Illinois and Rochester. After further training at Johns Hopkins and universities in Europe, he returned to the United States and joined the faculty of the University of Illinois. In 1932 he was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry of The George Washington University. Six years later he moved to Cornell University Medical College as Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry. In 1967 he became Professor Emeritus and is now Professor of Chemistry, Cornell University at Ithaca.
Professor du Vigneaud's contributions to science have included studies on the structure and metabolism of amino acids and peptides, vitamins, and penicillin. His discerning and inventive approaches to problems in biomedical science have inspired and influenced a generation of scientists. Many of his students are continuing in the path of brilliant research and teaching he has laid out. Five other universities have awarded him honorary degrees. Among the seventeen national and international recognitions he has received for his outstanding research was the coveted Nobel Prize in Chemistry, in 1955, for "work on biochemically important sulfur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone."
In recognition, therefore, of his brilliant contributions to chemistry and medicine, and his leadership in science, research, and education, I confer upon Vincent du Vigneaud, scientist and educator, the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, with all of the rights, privileges and duties pertaining thereto, and welcome him into the fellowship of The George Washington University.
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Photographic Credit: RG0044/004
Author or Source: RG0044/Public Relations biographical files; Faculty personnel files
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: January 22, 2007
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist
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