Martin Gibbs was an American biochemist

Biochemistry

Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...

 and educator who worked in the field of carbon metabolism. The Martin Gibbs Medal, an award honoring individuals in plant sciences

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, is named in his honor.

Career

Gibbs was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

 and educated at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the Sciences , officially known as University of the Sciences in Philadelphia , located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in pharmacy and a variety of other health-related disciplines.-History:The history of the University of the Sciences...

. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

 in 1947. Gibbs went on to work as a scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...

 that same year.

In 1957, he returned to academia as professor of biochemistry at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. In 1962, in the midst of his research, he accepted the role as editor-in-chief of Plant Physiology

Plant Physiology (journal)

Plant Physiology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers research on physiology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, biophysics, and environmental biology of plants. The journal has been published since 1926 by the American Society of Plant Biologists. It is a...

. As editor he focused his strong inclination toward biochemistry on journal manuscripts and was able to significantly grow the journal. He eventually moved on to Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

 becoming the Abraham S. and Gertrude Berg Professor of Biology and served as chair of the Department of Biology for three years.

In 1993, the Martin Gibbs Medal, awarded to those who have provided significant contributions in the field of plant sciences, was created by the American Society of Plant Biologists

American Society of Plant Biologists

The American Society of Plant Biologists is a professional society devoted to the advancement of the plant sciences. It was founded in 1924 as the American Society of Plant Physiologists and renamed in 2001...

 to honor his retirement.

Career related

• Consultant National Science Foundation
  National Science Foundation
  The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
  
  , 1961–64, 1969–1972
• National Institutes of Health
  National Institutes of Health
  The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
  
  , 1966–69
• Cosmos Club, 1984
• Marine Biological Laboratory, 1970
• RESA lecturer, 1969
• NATO consultant fellowship board, 1968–70
• Council International Exchange of Scholars, 1976–82
• Chairman of selection committee, Fulbright Scholars for Eastern Europe
• Adjunct professor Botanical Institute, University Munster, Federal Republic of Germany, 1978, 1980, 1987
• Adjunct professor department botany University California, Riverside, 1979-1989.

Author

• Structure and Function of Chloroplasts, 1970
• Crop Productivity-Research Imperatives, 1975
• Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, 1982
• Crassulacean Acid Biosynthesis and Function of Plant Lipids, 1983
• Crop Productivity-Research Imperative, Revisited, 1985
• Hungarian-USA Binational Symposium on Photosynthesis, 1986

Associate editor

• Physiologie Vegetale, 1966—1976
• Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 1966—1971

Awards

• Recipient Charles Reid Barnes award, 1984
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, 1987
• Adolph E. Gude award, 1993
• Martin Gibbs medal, 1993
• University Illinois Achievement award, 1996
• Bulgarian Academy Sciences gold medal

External links

• The Boston Globe - Obituary