George Wald

Wald, George 

Born Nov. 18, 1906, in New York City. American biologist and biochemist. Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Wald graduated from Washington Square College of New York University in 1927. He was a National Research Council fellow from 1932 to 1934. Since 1934, Wald has taught biology at Harvard University; he was an assistant professor from 1944 to 1948 and a full professor from 1948 to 1968.

Wald’s main works deal with biochemistry and physiology and with problems concerning the origin of life and biological evolution. His particular concern has been the development of vision and problems relating to color vision in humans. Wald discovered vitamins A (retinol) and A₂ (dehydroretinol) in the retinal receptors (cones and rods), and he explained their role in the formation of rhodopsin as well as the conversion process of rhodopsin. Wald was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1967, jointly with R. Granit and H. Hartline.

WORKS

The Molecular Basis of Visual Excitation. Stockholm, 1968. (Nobel lecture.)
“Filogeniia i ontogeniia na molekuliarnom urovne.” In Evoliutsionnaia biokhimiia, III, pages 19–58. Moscow, 1962. (Trudy V Mezhdunarodnogo Biokhimicheskogo kongressa.)

REFERENCE

Fiziologiia sensornykh sistem, part 1: Fiziologiia zreniia. Leningrad, 1971. (Handbook of physiology.)

A. E. BRAUNSHTEIN