Edward B. Lewis

Edward Bok Lewis ( born May 20, 1918 in Wilkes -Barre, Pennsylvania, † 21 July 2004 in Pasadena, California ) was an American geneticist. He was winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1995.

Lewis studied at the University of Minnesota and at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech ) biology and genetics. At Caltech, he earned his doctorate in 1942. During the Second World War, Lewis worked as a meteorologist for the U.S. Army. Back at the California Institute of Technology Lewis 1946 Assistant Professor of Biology, Associate in the following year and finally in 1956 Full Professor of Biology.

He was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize - 1992. In 1995, he shared with Christiane Nüsslein- Volhard and Eric F. Wieschaus the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his " fundamental understanding of the genetic control of early embryonic development ". In 1983 he was awarded the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal and 1987 Gairdner Foundation International Award with a. 1967, Lewis was president of the Genetics Society of America.

Edward Lewis was married to Pamela Lewis and had three children: Hugh, a lawyer who lives in Bellingham, Washington, who died during his lifetime Glenn and Keith, a biologist and scientific assistant who lives in Berkeley, California.