Peter Guy Wolynes is an American theoretical chemist and physicist. Since 2011 he has been a Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science and Professor of Chemistry at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

. He is widely recognized for his significant contributions to the theories of

protein folding Protein folding is the physical process by which a protein chain is translated to its native three-dimensional structure, typically a "folded" conformation by which the protein becomes biologically functional. Via an expeditious and reproduc ...

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

es, and gene networks. Previously he was James R. Eiszner Professor at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, and the Francis H.C. Crick Chair of Physical Sciences at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

Education and early life

Peter G. Wolynes was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 21, 1953. He graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

in 1971 with a B.A in Chemistry, and from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with a Ph.D in Chemical Physics in 1976.

Career and research

After a brief

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

with

John Deutch John Mark Deutch (born July 27, 1938) is an American physical chemist and civil servant. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from May 10, 1995 until December 15, 1996. ...

, in the fall of 1976 he became an Assistant Professor at the Chemistry department of Harvard University at the age of 23. In 1980 he moved to the University of Illinois, eventually becoming the Center for Advanced Study Professor of Chemistry, Physics and Biophysics. In 2000 he moved to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego, as the Francis Crick Chair in the Physical Sciences. In addition to continuing his work on many body chemical physics, protein folding and structure prediction, he studied stochastic aspects of cell biology. In 2011 he moved to Rice University as the Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science, and Professor of Chemistry and Physics. As for 2022, Peter Wolynes has published more than 460 research articles and has an h-index equal to 117 according to hi
Google Scholar profile
Energy landscape of protein folding: Wolynes is worldwide known in the field of biophysics by his Energy Landscapes Theory and the Principle of Minimal Frustration. This theory, that was published in 1987 together with Joseph Bryngelson, states that naturally evolved proteins have optimised their folding energy landscapes and that nature has chosen amino acid sequences so that the folded state of the protein is sufficiently stable. In addition, the acquisition of the folded state had to become a sufficiently fast process. Even though nature has reduced the level of frustration in proteins, some degree of it remains up to now as can be observed in the presence of local minima in the energy landscape of proteins.

Awards

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founde ...

. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Biophysical Society, 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 ...

, 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 ...

, and Foreign Member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. In 2012, he received the ACS Award in Theoretical Chemistry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolynes, Peter Guy 21st-century American chemists Foreign Members of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Living people Indiana University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Rice University faculty 1953 births Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Foreign Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Santa Fe Institute people Members of the American Philosophical Society