Thomas Cech
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About
A chemist and former president of Howard Hughes Medical Institute who found the potential origins of life in his work with RNA. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1988, one year after he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Before Fame
He obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1975.
Trivia
He and his research partner, Sidney Altman, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989 for their discovery of the catalytic properties of RNA.
Family Life
He married Carol Lynn Martinson in 1970.
Associated With
He and Ahmed Zewail are both Nobel Laureates in Chemistry.