Robert H. Burris

Robert Harza Burris (* April 13, 1914, † 11 May 2010) was an American biochemist.

Biography

After school he started in 1936 to study at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1946 as a lecturer lecturer at the university. Between 1958 and 1970 he was Dean of the Faculty of Biochemistry. Throughout his years as a university teacher, he served as PhD supervisor for more than 70 promotions. Even after his retirement in 1984, he dealt with issues of research and was the author of numerous technical papers.

Burris one of the most outstanding authorities in the field of nitrogen fixation, to convert the process at the specific micro-organisms from the nitrogen atmosphere into a form that can be absorbed by plants. He made great progress in the understanding of biological systems, which some of the methodology used in the research of nitrogen fixation evolved.

In 1961 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 1975, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society in 1979.

His groundbreaking work earned him worldwide recognition. In 1979 he was National Medal of Science by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the highest award of the U.S. government to scientists and engineers. In 1985 he was awarded the Wolf Prize in agriculture science, one of the world into the natural sciences after the Nobel Prize in Mathematics by the Fields Medal at the prestigious awards.