Melvin Calvin

Melvin Ellis Calvin was an American chemist, biochemist, biologist, and university teacher. He worked in the field of biochemistry with an interest in organic chemistry. Calvin was educated at the University of Minnesota, the University of Manchester, and Michigan Technological University. He served as an employee at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota. His doctoral advisor was Michael Polanyi.

Born in Saint Paul on April 8, 1911, Calvin died in Berkeley on January 8, 1997, due to heart failure from natural causes. He was a member of the Royal Society, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Centenary Prize, the Remsen Award, and the William H. Nichols Medal. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.