Frances Ann Walker was an American chemist known for her work on heme protein chemistry. She was an elected fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and the American Chemical Society.

Education and career

Walker was born in Ohio and grew up there, graduating from Adena High School in 1958. Walker has a B.A. in chemistry from College of Wooster (1962). In 1966 she earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. From 1967 until 1970 she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an assistant professor at Ithaca College. She then moved to San Francisco State University, where she was promoted to professor in 1976. Subsequently, she moved to the University of Arizona, where she was named regents professor in 2001, and then she retired in 2013.

Research

Walker's research centered on bio-inorganic chemistry, especially heme protein chemistry. Walker examined proteins in bloodsucking insects and cytochromes that transfer energy between cells. Walker's early work was on porphyrins and their complexation with iron. She was able to obtain structural information about metal binding proteins. A portion of her work relied on nuclear magnetic resonance, especially paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which she used to examine model heme and systems with proteins coupled to heme.

Selected publications

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Awards and honors

Walker was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1984. In 2000 she received the

Garvan–Olin Medal The Francis P. Garvan–John M. Olin Medal is an annual award that recognizes distinguished scientific accomplishment, leadership and service to chemistry by women chemists. The Award is offered by the American Chemical Society (ACS), and consist ...

for scientific accomplishments by a woman chemist from the American Chemical Society. In 2006 she received the Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic Chemistry, and in 2011 she was elected a fellow of the American Chemical Society. The Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines awarded her the Eraldo Antonini Award for lifetime achievement award in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, F. Ann 1940 births 2022 deaths Scientists from Ohio Women chemists American inorganic chemists University of Arizona faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Brown University alumni College of Wooster alumni Fellows of the American Chemical Society