Don Craig Wiley
Born(1944-10-21)October 21, 1944
Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Diedc. November 15, 2001(2001-11-15) (aged 57)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma materTufts University[1]
Harvard University
SpouseKatrin Valgeirsdottir[2]
Awards
Scientific career
ThesisThe 5.5 ⁰A structure of the regulatory enzyme, aspartate transcarbamylase (1972)
Doctoral advisorWilliam N. Lipscomb, Jr.
Doctoral studentsMichael Eisen[3][4][5] Pamela J. Bjorkman

Don Craig Wiley (October 21, 1944 – c. November 15, 2001) was an American structural biologist.[2][6][7][8][9]

Education

Wiley received his doctoral degree in biophysics in 1971 from Harvard University, where he worked under the direction of the subsequent 1976 chemistry Nobel Prize winner William N. Lipscomb, Jr.[10] There, Wiley did early work on the structure of aspartate carbamoyltransferase, the largest molecular structure determined at that time.[11] Noteworthy in this effort was that Wiley managed to grow crystals of aspartate carbamoyltransferase suitable for obtaining its X-ray structure, a particularly difficult task in the case of this molecular complex.

Career and research

Wiley was world-renowned for finding new ways to help the human immune system battle such viral scourges as smallpox, influenza, HIV/AIDS and herpes simplex.

Famous quote: "I'm sorry, but I just don't understand anything in biology unless I know what it looks like."[12]

Awards and honors

In 1990, he was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University. His research was honored with the 1993 Cancer Research Institute William B. Coley Award. Harvard called Wiley "one of the most influential biologists of his generation." In 1999, Wiley and another Harvard professor, Jack L. Strominger, won the Japan Prize for their discoveries of how the immune system protects humans from infections.[13]

Personal life

Wiley owned a British racing green-colored Aston Martin.[12]

He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[14] the National Academy of Sciences,[15] and the American Philosophical Society.[16]

Disappearance and death

Wiley disappeared on November 15, 2001. The official coroner's report stated that Wiley died after falling off a bridge near Memphis, Tennessee; his body was found in the Mississippi River 300 miles (480 km) downstream in Vidalia, Louisiana a month later and his death was ruled to be an accident.[17][18][19] Shelby County Medical Examiner, Dr. O. C. Smith, conducted the investigation into Wiley's death.[20][21] Smith was quoted by a Boston Magazine article by Doug Most, which states: "Of all the measurements Smith took, one stood out: 8 inches. That's how narrow the curb is from the road to the railing, which is only 43 inches high. 'If he stood against the rail, it's hitting him in the back of the thigh,' Smith says. 'If he's startled or caught by a gust from an 18-wheeler, his center of gravity is 47 inches, near the top rail, below his hip.'"[20] A 43" rail hitting a person in the back of the thigh would require a person to have an inseam of 41-44 inches. An inseam of 40 inches is recommended for persons 6' 11" to over 7' tall.[22]

Wiley was 6'3" and weighed 160 pounds according to the Los Angeles Times[23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dr. Don C. Wiley. japanprize.jp
  2. 1 2 Ploegh, H. L. (2002). "Obituary: Don Craig Wiley (1944-2001)". Nature. 415 (6871): 492. Bibcode:2002Natur.415..492P. doi:10.1038/415492a. PMID 11823846.
  3. ↑ Eisen, Michael Bruce (1996). Structural Studies of Influenza A Virus Proteins (PhD thesis). Harvard University. OCLC 48938206.
  4. ↑ Eisen, M. B.; Sabesan, S; Skehel, J. J.; Wiley, D. C. (1997). "Binding of the influenza a virus to cell-surface receptors: Structures of five hemagglutinin-sialyloligosaccharide complexes determined by X-ray crystallography". Virology. 232 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1006/viro.1997.8526. PMID 9185585.
  5. ↑ Eisen, M. B.; Wiley, D. C.; Karplus, M; Hubbard, R. E. (1994). "HOOK: A program for finding novel molecular architectures that satisfy the chemical and steric requirements of a macromolecule binding site". Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics. 19 (3): 199–221. doi:10.1002/prot.340190305. PMID 7937734. S2CID 10765110.
  6. ↑ Strominger, J. L. (2002). "Don Craig Wiley (1944-2001): A reminiscence". Nature Immunology. 3 (2): 103–4. doi:10.1038/ni0202-103. PMID 11812980. S2CID 6362947.
  7. ↑ "Don C. Wiley (1944 - 2001) Memorial website of the Wiley laboratory". Harvard University. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10.
  8. ↑ Don Craig Wiley's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  9. ↑ Lechler, R. (2002). "Don Craig Wiley (1944-2001)". American Journal of Transplantation. 2 (5): 480. doi:10.1034/j.1600-6143.2002.20515.x.
  10. ↑ Harvard Gazette: Biologist Don C. Wiley, 1944-2001 Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Sondra, Schlesinger (1999). "Oral history: Don Wiley". Viruses: From structure to biology. American Society for Virology. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  12. 1 2 Ploegh, Hidde L. "Don C. Wiley: A Tribute". Harvard University Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  13. ↑ "Authorities Search For Missing Harvard Virus Specialist". Fox News. 24 November 2001.
  14. ↑ "Don Craig Wiley". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  15. ↑ "Don C. Wiley". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Obituary: Professor Don C. Wiley, 1944-2001". Office of news and public affairs. Harvard University. 21 December 2001. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "Professor Don C. Wiley, 1944-2001". Office of news and public affairs. Harvard University. 15 January 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Harvard Biologist's Death Ruled Accidental". The New York Times. 15 January 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  20. 1 2 "What Happened to Don Wiley?". Boston Magazine. Metrocorp. 15 May 2006. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  21. ↑ "Official Theory on Biochemist's Death". Science Magazine. AAAS. 14 January 2002. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "Size Guides". 2Tall. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  23. ↑ article " A Scientist’s Mystery" by Jeffrey Gettleman and Elizabeth Mehren, Nov. 30, 2001
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