The 2009 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award is being presented to Carl R. Woese, Ph.D., Stanley O. Ikenberry Professor of Microbiology, School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and professor, Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois. Sponsored by Abbott Laboratories, this is ASM's premier award for sustained, remarkable contributions to the microbiological sciences.
Dr. Woese is honored for changing the way that we perceive microbial diversity. His phylogenetic analyses of ribosomal RNA sequences led to the recognition of a third domain of life—the Archaea—which revolutionized our view of life's history and brought order to our understanding of microbial diversity and classification.
Dr. Woese's research began in the early 1970s when sequencing technology was in a primitive state. He had the definitive insight that ribosomal RNA sequence comparisons could be used to construct a phylogeny of all living organisms and spent countless hours analyzing patterns of relationships. Dr. Woese used the power of molecular sequence comparisons for inferring deep evolutionary relationships, and developed the rationale, technical approach, and theory for doing so. He recognized that all life forms could be related by this approach and for the first time put all cellular life under one evolutionary umbrella.
A Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Dr. Woese received his A.B. in math and physics from Amherst College and his Ph.D. from Yale University in biophysics.
The Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented during the 109th General Meeting of the ASM, May 17-21, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ASM is the world's oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 43,000 members worldwide. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health and economic and environmental well-being.