April 30: Wriston Lecture
Annual lecture honors biochemistry professor
10:55 a.m., April 6, 2012--Anthony Kossiakoff, the Otho S.A. Sprague Professor in Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago's Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery, will present the sixth annual John C. Wriston Memorial Lecture on Monday, April 30.
Kossiakoff, who received his doctorate at UD in 1972, will discuss "Modifying biological function inside cells using conformational trapping by synthetic antibodies" at 4 p.m., April 30, in 101 Brown Laboratory.
Events Stories
June 5: Blue Hen 5K
June 6-9: Food and culture series
The memorial lectureship was created by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in honor of John C. Wriston, who taught at UD from 1955-85.
Dr. Wriston joined the UD faculty after earning a doctorate from Columbia University and was the first biochemist in what was then the Department of Chemistry. He played a major role in the formation and growth of the biochemistry division within the department, which was later renamed the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Throughout his career at UD, he taught freshman chemistry and virtually all of the core courses in biochemistry. After he retired, he continued to teach "Introductory Biochemistry" until 2003.
Dr. Wriston conducted research in the structure and function of L-asparaginase and its use in anticancer therapy. He spent sabbatical leaves at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Carlsburg Laboratory in Copenhagen and the National Institute for Medical Research in London.
He was active in the American Association of University Professors and served on many important University committees.
Dr. Wriston was active in the Friends of the Newark Free Library, and in his memory, the Newark Free Library sponsors an annual essay contest for high school juniors and seniors in the Christina School District.
He died in November 2004.