| Authorised form of name | Calvin; Melvin (1911 - 1997) |
| Dates | 1911 - 1997 |
| Nationality | American |
| Place of birth | St Paul, Minnesota |
| Date of birth | 08/04/1911 |
| Date of death | 08/01/1997 |
| Occupation | Chemist |
| Activity | Education:
Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University); University of Minnesota. PhD (1935)
Career:
Studied phthyalocyanic dyes under Michael Polanyi (FRS 1944) at University of Manchester (1935-1937); Instructor, University of California (1937); his work on photosynthesis led to the discovery of the photosynthetic carbon cycle and was the reason for his Nobel Prize; member of the President's Science Advisory Committee (1963-1966); laboratory built for him at the Berkeley campus, now called the Calvin Laboratory (1964); University Professor (1971); member of President's Advisory Group on Major Advances in Science and Technology (1975); member of the Energy Research Advisory Board, Department of Energy (1981-1985); also served in international groups; advised NASA on biological matters
Medals and prizes:
Nobel Prize (Chemistry) 1961
Memberships:
American Chemical Society (President); American Society of Plant Physiology (President); National Academy of Sciences; Fellow of the American Philosophical Society (1960) |
| Membership category | Foreign Member |
| Date of election | 23/04/1959 |
| Age at election | 48 |
| RSActivity | Medals and prizes:
Davy Medal 1964
Lectures:
Bakerian 1965 |
| Relationships | Parents were immigrants from Europe; married Genevieve (died 1987); three children, Elin, Karole, Noel |
| Source | Obituaries:
Biographical Memoirs of the Fellwos of the Royal Society vol 54, 2008, pp 59-70
Biographical memoirs, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society vol 144, no. 4 (December 2000) 454 -457, plate
|
| Code | NA5958 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MS/926/5/2/9 | Media articles concerning Apollo missions and lunar sample anaylisis research, collected by Colin Pillinger | 8 August 1968 - 1 January 1969 |
| EC/1959/26 | Calvin, Melvin: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| MS/926/10/1 | Viking probe papers, proposal on the potential collection and analysis of Martian soil samples by NASA, by Geoffrey Eglinton | 13 November 1969 - 14 September 1976 |
| MDA/N/1/76 | Correspondence between Melvin Calvin and the Royal Society | 23 April-20 May 1959 |