After receiving his B.S. in Chemistry (1930) and his Ph.D. in Bacteriology (1934) at Michigan State University, Alfred Hershey joined the faculty in the Department of Bacteriology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His early experiments with bacteriophages there lead to his key role as one of the founders of molecular biology. In 1950, Hershey joined the staff of the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor. It was here that he performed his historic "Waring Blendor" experiment in 1952 with his assistant, Martha Chase. During the merger of the Department of Genetics and the Biological Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, Hershey was appointed Director of the Genetics Research Unit in 1962. Among his many honors, Dr. Hershey shared the 1969 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with associates Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria. In the 37 years after completing his Ph.D. (1934-1971), Hershey published an impressive 108 articles in scientific journals and books, and was the principal editor of the important reference book Bacteriophages, by Mark H. Adams, as well as the author of the highly regarded book, The Bacteriophage Lambda, published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Hershey retired from his Carnegie post at CSHL in 1974 and enjoyed a long retirement filled with woodworking, gardening, music, and a newfound interest in computers with his wife, Jill. Hershey died at his home in the village of Laurel Hollow, NY, on the outskirts of the CSHL Campus, on May 22, 1997.
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