Record

Authorised form of name	Klug; Sir; Aaron (1926 - 2018)
Dates	1926 - 2018
Nationality	British
Place of birth	Zelvas, Lithuania
Date of birth	11/08/1926
Date of death	20/11/2018
Occupation	Biochemist, Molecular Biologist
Activity	Education: Durban High School; University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. MSc (Crystallography); PhD (Cambridge, solid state physics) Career: Junior lectureship, University of Cape Town; Research studentship, Trinity College, Cambridge; worked with Rosalind Franklin, Birkbeck College, London (1953); Director, virus structure research group (1958); invited by Francis Crick to join the Medical Research Council (MRC) laboratory of molecular biology, Cambridge (1962); Joint head, division of structural studies (1978); Director, MRC laboratory (1986) Medals and prizes: Nobel Prize (Chemistry) 1982 Honours: Kt 1988; OM 1995 Memberships: Millennium FRSC (2000)
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	20/03/1969
Age at election	42
RSActivity	Royal Society roles: Council: 1988-1990, 1995- ; VP 1989-1990; PRS 1995-2000 Medals and prizes: Copley Medal 1985 Lectures: Leeuwenhoek 1973; Blackett Memorial 1996; Croonian 2007
OtherInfo	Family emigrated to Africa (1928) Aaron Klug was a Nobel Prize-winning chemist and biophysicist who made outstanding contributions to molecular biology and, in particular, our knowledge of the structure of viruses. Aaron combined existing electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques to develop crystallographic electron microscopy — a method for constructing three-dimensional structures of biological molecules from two-dimensional images. His interest in viruses stemmed from a collaboration with Rosalind Franklin at Birkbeck in the 1950s, where he performed structural studies on the helical tobacco mosaic virus. Aaron’s most notable work soon followed — determining that spherical viruses are constructed from repeating protein units arranged according to icosahedral symmetry. This research, together with the development of methods for elucidating structures, led to him receiving the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Aaron served as Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge for a decade from 1986, and from 1995–2000, he led the Royal Society as its President. He received a knighthood in 1988 for his services to molecular biology. His techniques for structural determination are now widely used to study proteins. Sir Aaron Klug OM FRS died on 20 November 2018.
Source	Sources: THES (28/07/2000) References: Sir John Meurig Thomas, 'Peterhouse, the Royal Society and molecular biology' in NR 2000 vol 54 pp 369-385 Sir Aaron Klug OM FRS, 'Address at the Service of Thanksgiving for the life of George Porter OM FRS' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 261-264 R A Crowther, 'Viruses and the development of quantitative biological electron microscopy' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 65-81 Anne Purkiss 'Scientists 1985 - 2010; Portraits of Fellows of the Royal Society' 2010, p.30
Virtual International Authority File	http://viaf.org/viaf/90770413
Code	NA7313

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
IM/002559	Klug, Sir Aaron	2001
IM/002556	Klug, Sir Aaron	1995
IM/002557	Klug, Sir Aaron	nd
IM/001284	Elizabeth, The Queen Mother	2000
IM/002558	Klug, Sir Aaron	2001
P/0175	Portrait of Klug, Sir Aaron	2000
IM/000107	Anniversary Day 2000	2000
IM/003357	Royal Society Officers at Anniversary Day 2000	2000
EC/1969/19	Klug, Aaron: certificate of election to the Royal Society
IM/006425	Klug, Sir Aaron	25 July 1995

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