Judith P. Klinman (born April 17, 1941 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
)
[
] is an American chemist, biochemist, and molecular biologist known for her work on
enzyme catalysis
Enzyme catalysis is the increase in the reaction rate, rate of a process by a Biomolecule, biological molecule, an "enzyme". Most enzymes are proteins, and most such processes are chemical reactions. Within the enzyme, generally catalysis occurs ...
. She became the first female professor in the physical sciences at the University of California, Berkeley in 1978,
where she is now Professor of the Graduate School and Chancellor's Professor. In 2012, she was awarded the
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
. She is a member of the
National Academy of Sciences,
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
,
American Association for the Advancement of Science,
and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
.
Early life
Klinman was born April 17, 1941 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
When Klinman was two years old, her biological father left the family.
Klinman's mother sold her house and possessions and moved with Klinman to
Miami Beach, Florida, for a time, before returning to Philadelphia to find work.
Klinman's mother then remarried, and so she was raised by her mother and stepfather.
Neither her mother nor stepfather graduated from college, but her stepfather attended
Drexel University for two years but dropped out due to the
Great Depression, and later found work selling furniture.
Klinman was initially interested in ballet, but her interest in chemistry was piqued by her high school chemistry teacher.
She received a partial scholarship from her high school,
Overbrook High School, to attend college, graduating second in her class.
Klinman decided to enroll in the
University of Pennsylvania's College for Women, despite pressure from her family to become a lab technician and get married.
Education and training
Beginning in 1958, Klinman studied chemistry at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(UPenn).
While in college, Klinman was a laboratory technician at the Eldridge R. Johnson Foundation for Research in Medical Physics at UPenn. She graduated with her A.B. in Chemistry in 1962.
Klinman applied to medical and graduate school, and received acceptances to both.
In 1962, Klinman enrolled in the Chemistry graduate program at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
(NYU).
Klinman credits her time at NYU for "opening
ereyes to the excitement and beauty of organic reaction mechanisms."
After a year in New York City, she moved back to Philadelphia, and enrolled at UPenn for graduate studies.
Working in the laboratory of physical organic chemist Prof.
Edward R. Thornton, Klinman studied the hydrolysis kinetics of benzyl-substituted
imidiazoles. She graduated with her Ph.D. in 1966.
In 1966, Klinman travelled to the
Weizmann Institute
The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli univ ...
in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
to conduct postdoctoral research with Prof. David Samuel.
She worked in the Isotopes Department, which had a large supply of
heavy water that could be used for
kinetic studies. Klinman's work with Samuel involved understanding the role of divalent metal ions in the hydrolysis of high-energy acyl phosphates. While in Israel, Klinman survived the
Six-Day War of 1967.
She and her then husband,
Norman R. Klinman, left Israel in 1967, as her husband was conducting postdoctoral studies at the
National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC);
In 2016, the NIMR b ...
in
Mill Hill, London
Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. ...
.
Klinman arranged a nonpaying apprenticeship at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
(UCL) in the laboratory of
Charles A. Vernon, and also took courses in biochemistry at UCL.
Klinman and her husband returned to the United States in 1968, and Klinman took up a position as a postdoctoral associate at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), a part of the
Fox Chase Cancer Research Institute.
There, she joined the laboratory of
Irwin Rose
Irwin Allan Rose (July 16, 1926 – June 2, 2015) was an American biologist. Along with Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.
Educati ...
, where she investigated the mechanism of
aconitate isomerase, an enzyme that catalyzes the
cis-trans isomerism of
aconitate. Klinman also studied the stereochemical products of
ATP citrate lyase
ATP citrate synthase (also ATP citrate lyase (ACLY)) is an enzyme that in animals represents an important step in fatty acid biosynthesis. By converting citrate to acetyl-CoA, the enzyme links carbohydrate metabolism, which yields citrate as an ...
and
citrate synthase
The enzyme citrate synthase E.C. 2.3.3.1 (previously 4.1.3.7)] exists in nearly all living cells and stands as a pace-making enzyme in the first step of the citric acid cycle (or Krebs cycle). Citrate synthase is localized within eukaryotic cel ...
.
Independent career
In 1972, Klinman was promoted to an independent staff scientist, equivalent to an Assistant Professorship, at the Institute for Cancer Research.
In 1974, she joined the University of Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor of
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...
.
In 1978, she moved to
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
as an Associate Professor in Chemistry,
the first female faculty member in the physical sciences at UC Berkeley.
She is currently the Professor of the Graduate School at the Departments of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences at the University of California, Berkeley.
She also served the Chancellor's Professor for University of California Berkeley. She currently serves as the Professor of the Graduate School.
Her group has discovered that room temperature
hydrogen tunneling occurs among various enzymatic reactions, such as enzymatic C-H cleavage,
and clarified the dynamics of tunneling process through data analysis. They have also discovered the quino-enzymes, a new class of
redox
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a ...
cofactors in eukaryotic enzymes.
Honors and awards
*1988
Guggenheim Fellowship
*1992 and 2003-4 Miller Professorship, University of California, Berkeley.
*1993 Elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
[
]
*1994 Elected to the
National Academy of Sciences[
]
*1994 Repligen Award for Chemistry of Biological Processes.
*1995
Alexander M. Cruickshank Lecturer
*1996 Fellow of the Japanese Ministry of Science
*2000 Honorary Doctorate (F.D.(h.c.)) from the
University of Uppsala
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance during ...
, Sweden.
*2001 Elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
*2003 David S. Sigman Lectureship Award from
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
.
*2005
Remsen Award, Maryland Section of the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
*2006 Honorary Doctorate (Sc.D.(h.c.)) from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
*2007 Elected to the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
*2007 Merck Award from the
American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906, at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel (Johns Hopkins University). The roots of the society were in the American Phy ...
*2009 Elected to the
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...
*2011 Elected to the American Chemical Society
*2012 A. I. Scott Medal for Excellence in Biological Chemistry Research,
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
.
*2014
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...
.
*2015
Mildred Cohn Award in Biological Chemistry from the
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906, at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel ( Johns Hopkins University). The roots of the society were in the American Ph ...
.
*2017
Willard Gibbs Award
The Willard Gibbs Award, presented by thChicago Sectionof the American Chemical Society, was established in 1910 by William A. Converse (1862–1940), a former Chairman and Secretary of the Chicago Section of the society and named for Professor ...
from the Chicago Section of the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
*2018 Penn Chemistry Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Pennsylvania
Personal life
Judith Klinman was married to Norman R. Klinman, who later became a Professor of Immunology and Microbial Science at
The Scripps Research Institute.
The two met at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and were married while Klinman was completing her Ph.D.
They had two children together, Andrew and Douglas.
Andrew was born while Klinman was in graduate school (born 1964-1966), and Douglas when she was a postdoctoral scholar at the
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...
in Israel (born in 1967).
She and Norman divorced in 1978, at the time of her laboratory's move to UC Berkeley.
Judith Klinman later married Mordechai Mitnick, a grassroots organizer who later established a
psychotherapy practice in
Oakland.
They raised four children together: Alexandra, Joshua, Andrew, and Douglas, and have eight grandchildren.
Klinman has a stepsister, who as of 2002 worked for the
Small Business Administration
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stre ...
.
Videos
2012 - National Medals of Science (National Science & Technology Medals Foundation)2014 - Thriving in Science Lecture: "Not Going It Alone"
2018 - NSF/JHU Quantum Biology and Quantum Processes in Biology Workshop - "Tunneling in Biology"2020 - Interviewing Eminent Scientists - Prof. Judith Klinman2022 - G.N. Lewis Lecture - "At the Interface of Quantum and Classical Behavior in Enzyme Catalysis"
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klinman Judith P.
1941 births
University of Pennsylvania alumni
21st-century American chemists
National Medal of Science laureates
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Living people
Women chemists
Women biologists
Women biochemists
UC Berkeley College of Chemistry faculty