Leonard Arthur "Len" Herzenberg (born 5 November 1931) is an immunologist, geneticist

Geneticist

A geneticist is a biologist who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a researcher or lecturer. Some geneticists perform experiments and analyze data to interpret the inheritance of skills. A geneticist is also a Consultant or...

 and professor at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

. His contribututions to the development of cell biology

Cell biology

Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...

 made it possible to sort viable cells by their specific properties.

Born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, U.S.A.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Herzenberg received his bachelors degree in 1952 from Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 in biology and chemistry. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

 in biochemistry with a specialization in immunology.

In 1970 Herzenberg developed the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) which revolutionized immunology and cancer biology, and is the basis for purification of adult stem cell

Stem cell

This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...

s.

Herzenberg and his wife, Leonore ("Lee"), run the Herzenberg Laboratory at Stanford. Their daughter Janet "Jana Herzen

Jana Herzen

Jana Herzen is a singer-songwriter with folk, world, rock and jazz influences who founded Motéma Music, a Harlem-based record label focused on virtuosic jazz and world music. Prior to founding the label in 2003, she worked as a musician , an art agent for Winston Smith, who designed the logo for...

", is a singer-songwriter and the founder of Motéma Music

Motéma Music

Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...

.

Awards

Herzenberg received:

• the Lifetime Service Award, American Association of Immunologists, in 1998;
• the Edwin F. Ullman Award, American Association of Clinical Chemistry, in 2002;
• the Novartis Immunology Prize, in 2004;
• the Abbott Laboratories Award in Clinical and Diagnostic Immunology, American Society for Microbiology, in 2005; and
• the 2006 Kyoto award
  Kyoto Prize
  The has been awarded annually since 1985 by the Inamori Foundation, founded by Kazuo Inamori. The prize is a Japanese award similar in intent to the Nobel Prize, as it recognizes outstanding works in the fields of philosophy, arts, science and technology...
  
   for his work in cell biology
  Cell biology
  Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
  
  ;
• the Ceppellini Award, International Foundation for Research in Experimental Medicine, in 2007, with his wife Lee Herzenberg for "their internationally recognized contributions to medicine.”

External links

• "Leonard Arthur Herzenberg" Inamori Foundation Kyoto Award;
• Leonard Herzenberg's homepage at Stanford from 2005 from Web Archive;
• Pincock, Stephen (9 June 2006) "Herzenberg wins Kyoto Prize" The Scientist: Magazine of the Life Sciences 2006(June 9): ;
• http://herzenberg.stanford.edu/ The Laboratory of Lee and Leonard Herzenberg