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Richard Alan Lerner (August 26, 1938 – December 2, 2021) was an American research
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
. Best known for his work on catalytic
antibodies An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...
, Lerner served as President of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) until January 1, 2012, and was a member of its Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, in
La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...
.


Biography

Lerner grew up on the
South Side of Chicago The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and w ...
and excelled at chemistry and
wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
as a schoolboy.Sydney Freedberg. Scientist Tycoon. ''St. Petersburg Times'', June 17, 2007 He attended Hirsch High School. After attending
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
as an undergraduate, Lerner obtained an MD from
Stanford Medical School Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...
in 1964 then undertook postdoctoral training at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, an early incarnation of the institute he would eventually lead. In the 1970s Lerner carried out research at the
Wistar Institute The Wistar Institute () is an independent, nonprofit research institution in biomedical science, with expertise in oncology, immunology, infectious disease and vaccine research. Located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Wistar was ...
in Philadelphia then returned to La Jolla to the now renamed Research Institute of Scripps Clinic. In 1982 he was appointed chairman of the Department of
Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...
, then five years later assumed the directorship. In 1991, when the TSRI was established as a
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
entity, Lerner became its first president. In addition to his research into
catalytic Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
antibodies, providing a method of catalyzing chemical reactions thought impossible using classical techniques, Lerner has led extensive studies into
protein structure Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid-chain molecule. Proteins are polymers specifically polypeptides formed from sequences of amino acids, the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid monomer ma ...
, characterised '' cis-9,10-octadecenoamide'', a novel
lipid Lipids are a broad group of naturally-occurring molecules which includes fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, E and K), monoglycerides, diglycerides, phospholipids, and others. The functions of lipids include ...
hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...
that induces sleep, and provided the first evidence of a role for
ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
in human disease. In 1967 Lerner discovered the role of anti-GBM antibodies in the pathogenesis of Goodpasture's disease. As of 2007, Lerner's
résumé A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of re ...
listed 67
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s and 403 published scientific papers. Lerner is the Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Immunochemistry and Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Chair in Chemistry. He has been the recipient of over 29 honors and prizes. These include the
Parke-Davis Parke-Davis is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Although Parke, Davis & Co. is no longer an independent corporation, it was once America's oldest and largest drug maker, and played an important role in medical history. In 1970 ...
Award in 1978, the
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
Prize in 1990, the
Wolf Prize in Chemistry The Wolf Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Mathematics, Medicine, Physics and Arts ...
for 1994 (with Peter Schultz). He was the Myron L. Bender and Muriel S. Bender Summer Lecturer at
Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...
in 1994 as well. Richard Lerner was awarded the California Scientist of the Year Award in 1996 and the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
Presidential Medal in 2002. He has also been elected to the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...
and the
United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
(1991). In 2010 he was awarded an
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
to add to those he received from
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology ( he, הטכניון – מכון טכנולוגי לישראל) is a public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion ...
in 2001,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...
in 2003 and
Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...
in 2004 and
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
in 2007. Richard Lerner shared the 2012 Prince of Asturis award, that is often called the Spanish Nobel Prize, with Sir Gregory Winter for Professor Pieczenik's conception and their development of combinatorial antibody libraries. Under Lerner's leadership, The Scripps Research Institute grew threefold in terms of laboratory space and more than quadrupled its staff levels, making it among the largest nonprofit biomedical research organizations in the world. He also oversaw the establishment of a sister research campus, called Scripps
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, in
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
. In 2006, Lerner announced that he intended to "return to full-time research in islaboratory" in five years. In 2011 it was announced that Lerner's replacement as Scripps President would be
Michael Marletta Michael A. Marletta is an American biochemist. He graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia with an A.B. degree in biology and chemistry, and from the University of California, San Francisco with a Ph.D. degree in pharmaceutic ...
. Lerner officially stepped down on January 1, 2012, having led the Institute for 25 years. When he was Scripps Research Institute president, in 2005 Lerner's salary was US$1,212,071, placing among the top ten percent of nonprofit executives in the USA. Lerner also served on the boards of six for-profit and nonprofit companies, including
Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...
, advised four other companies and two venture capital funds. He has declined to reveal the sum of his earnings, but acknowledged he earned $8.5 million for his part in the discovery of
Humira Adalimumab, sold under the brand name Humira, among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativ ...
. Lerner's entrepreneurial activities have drawn comment. A consumer advocacy organization,
Public Citizen Public Citizen is a non-profit, progressive consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Lobbying efforts Public Citizen advocates before all three branches of the Unit ...
, claimed it constitutes "a conflict of interest" while acknowledging there is "nothing illegal" in his multiple activities.
Donald Kennedy Donald Kennedy (August 18, 1931 – April 21, 2020) was an American scientist, public administrator, and academic. He served as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (1977–1979), President of Stanford University (1980– ...
described Lerner's numerous commitments as "unusually rich array... But if he can manage them fairly, then I can't make a particular criticism of it." Lerner's contract with TSRI stipulates he spends no more than 10% of his time on outside activities, however, and he says the actual amount is "far less." Lerner has also published a novel called ''Epidemic 9'' () about, according to the ''
St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'', "a young scientific investigator who swears off wealth and status in favor of public service work". Lerner married Nicola Green Lerner, a physician, in 1981. He has three adult children; Danica, Arik and Aaron by a previous marriage to Diana Pickett, a psychotherapist. The Nobel laureate in chemistry
Benjamin List Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
started his career as a protegé of Lerner. Lerner died on December 2, 2021, at the age of 83 in his home in La Jolla.


References


External links


Richard Alan Lerner, Curriculum Vitae


by The Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation
The Scripps Research Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerner, Richard 1938 births 2021 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences American chief executives 21st-century American chemists 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Jewish American scientists Jewish chemists Writers from Chicago Scripps Research faculty Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureates Stanford University School of Medicine alumni Northwestern University alumni People from Jupiter Island, Florida Novelists from Illinois 20th-century American male writers