Pride Points

Home of Nobel Prize Winner George Smith

Dr. George Smith was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his invention of phage display. Dr. Smith is the first MU Professor to receive a Nobel Prize for research conducted at the university. phage-display technology is a method for the study of protein-protein, protein-peptide, and protein-DNA interactions that uses bacteriophages to connect proteins with the genetic information that encodes them. The method is now widely used in the medical biotechnology field, especially in the area of antibody/antigen interactions and drug discovery.

Home of 7 Kemper Fellows

Seven current faculty members in the Division are recipients of the William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, the most prestigious teaching award bestowed by the University of Missouri. 

Among the nation’s most prestigious scientists

The Division is home to 2 National of Science Academy members and 8 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. These prestigious national honors are bestowed for distinguished and meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications.

Among the most prestigious academic honor society

In 2020, 12 seniors and 4 juniors from the Division of Biological Sciences were invited to join Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States.
 

Among the nation's most celebrated inventors

The Division is home to James Birchler, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, who is an elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, one of the highest honors accorded to academic inventors. Among Dr. Birchler's inventions are synthetic mini-chromosomes, which can be designed to specification, with the potential of genes or entire biochemical pathways added or removed as needed. In addition to shedding light on the behavior of chromosomes, artificial chromosomes also have potential applications in agriculture, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical industry.