| Authorised form of name | Wolpert; Lewis (1929 - 2021) |
| Dates | 1929 - 2021 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Johannesburg, South Africa, Africa |
| Date of birth | 19/10/1929 |
| Date of death | 28/01/2021 |
| Occupation | Biologist |
| Research field | Embryology |
| Medicine |
| Developmental biology |
| Activity | Education:
King Edward's School Johannesburg; University of Witwatersrand, BSc Engineering (1950); Imperial College London, DIC (1955); King's College London, PhD (1961);
Career:
Personal Assistant to Director of Building Research Institute S.African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (1951-1952); Engineer, Israel Water Planning Dept (1953-1954); King's Coll. London, Assistant Lecturer in Zoologey (1958-1960); Lecturer in Zoology (1960-1964); Reader in Zoology (1964-1966); Professor of Biology Department of Anatomy and Biology as Applied to Medicine, Middlesex Hospital Medical School (1966-1982), Head of Deaprtment (1982-1987); Council of London Zoo (1980-1982); Chairman, Cell Board MRC (1984-1987); Council, MRC (1984-1987); President, Inst. of Information Scientists (1986-1987); President, British Society for Cell Biology (1987-1992); Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine, University College London (1987), University of London; Chairman of COMAC (BIO) within the EEC (1988-1992); Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Action Research (1990-1994); Chairman, Committee for the Genetic Approach to Human Health, Medical Research Council (1994-1996); Governor, Camden and Islington NHS mental health trust (2008-2010)
Medals/Awards:
Scientific Medal Zoological Society 1968
Honours:
CBE 1990
Memberships:
FMedSci (1998); FRSL (1999); Polish Academy of Arts & Sciences (1998); American Philosophical Society (2002) |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/03/1980 |
| Age at election | 50 |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1992-1994
Committee and panels:
Scientific Information Committee, 1983-1989; ; Committee on the Public Understanding of Science, 1993-1998 (Chair)
Medals and prizes:
Royal Medal 2018 for research on morphogenesis and pattern formation and embryonic development
Lectures:
Medawar 1998; Faraday 2000 |
| PublishedWorks | Medawar Lecture 1998 'Is science dangerous?' published in 'Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B' volume 360, number 1458, June 2005; Co-author with Rosa Beddington (FRS 1999) of 'Manipulating the mouse embryo' (1994), and of 'Principles of development' (1998)
https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n77010978/ |
| OtherInfo | Lewis Wolpert was a developmental biologist and eminent advocate for the public understanding of science. Through research into body and limb patterning in developing organisms, Lewis formulated the theory of positional information — now a central concept that describes how cells do the right thing in the right place to morph correctly within the embryo.
Lewis studied morphogenesis and pattern development in marine invertebrates, hydra and chicks. He hypothesised that the physical location of cells in the embryo confers how they behave — for example which genes they switch on or off — and how they respond to external signals, giving rise to the correct formation and positioning of anatomy.
As an author and broadcaster, Lewis championed the value of science and helped to raise the profile of mental illness through a part-autobiographical book about depression. He served as Chair of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science and is a patron of the British Humanist Association.
Professor Lewis Wolpert CBE FMedSci FRS died on 28 January 2021. |
| Source | Sources:
Royal Society profile (https://royalsociety.org/people/lewis-wolpert-12552/, accessed 29 January 2021) |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/37588323 |
| Code | NA7150 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| EC/1980/39 | Wolpert, Lewis: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1973 |
| CMB/356/f | Minutes of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science [COPUS] Michael Faraday Award nominations panel | 1991-1998 |
| CMB/356/c | Minutes of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science [COPUS] | 1992-2002 |
| IM/003045 | Medallists 2000 | 2000 |