David Harker (October 19, 1906 – February 27, 1991) was an American medical researcher who according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' was "a pioneer in the use of X-rays to decipher the structure of critical substances in the life process of cells".New York Times:Obituaries:Dr. David Harker, 84, a Pioneer in Use of X-Rays in Cell Research, By WALTER SULLIVAN, Published: March 2, 1991
/ref>
/ref> He is also well known for Harker–Kasper inequalities (statistical relationships between the phases of

structure factor In condensed matter physics and crystallography, the static structure factor (or structure factor for short) is a mathematical description of how a material scatters incident radiation. The structure factor is a critical tool in the interpretation ...

s), which he devised in collaboration with John S. Kasper. Harker made seminal discoveries in the field of chemical crystallography. His lab solved the structure of the pancreatic enzyme

ribonuclease A Pancreatic ribonuclease family (, ''RNase'', ''RNase I'', ''RNase A'', ''pancreatic RNase'', ''ribonuclease I'', ''endoribonuclease I'', ''ribonucleic phosphatase'', ''alkaline ribonuclease'', ''ribonuclease'', ''gene S glycoproteins'', ''Cerati ...

, the third protein structure ever solved by protein crystallography. Harker was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

, director of the protein structure program at the

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United St ...

, director of the Center for Crystallographic Research at

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center located in Buffalo, New York. Founded by surgeon Roswell Park in 1898, the center was the first in the United States to specifically focus on cancer research. Th ...

, and the head of the crystallography division of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

. After retirement from Roswell Park in 1976, he joined the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI), then known as the Medical Foundation of Buffalo. He remained there until he died in 1991. His research interests while at HWI turned towards mathematical aspects of

crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...

, including magnetic space groups and infinite

polyhedra In geometry, a polyhedron (: polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional figure with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. The term "polyhedron" may refer either to a solid figure or to its boundary su ...

. Harker was awarded the

Gregori Aminoff Prize The Gregori Aminoff Prize is an international prize awarded since 1979 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in the field of crystallography, rewarding "a documented, individual contribution in the field of crystallography, including areas concer ...

from the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

in 1984. He was also elected president of the Electron Microscope Society of America.

References

External links

Herbert A. Hauptman, "David Harker", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (1998)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harker, David 1922 births 1991 deaths American biophysicists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty