Fournier to give Distinguished Faculty
Lecture Nov. 18

by Elizabeth Luciano, News Office staff

Maurille Fournier (Teresa A. B. Gauthier photo)

aurille J. Fournier, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, will give a Distinguished Faculty Lecture, "Inside the Ribosome Factory: How Our Cells Build Protein-Manufacturing Machines," at 4 p.m., on Mon., Nov. 18, in the Massachusetts Room at the Mullins Center.

     His talk is the second in this year's Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series. It is free and the public is welcome. A reception will follow. All faculty members in the series receive a Chancellor's Medal following their lectures. The Chancellor's Medal is the highest honor bestowed on individuals for exemplary and extraordinary service to the University.

     Fournier will describe the process by which our cells build the machines that make proteins.

     "Proteins have many important duties," explained Fournier, "such as catalyzing biochemical reactions, transporting important substances such as oxygen, and serving as structural components." Ribosomes, the machines that produce these proteins, are built much like automobiles, on a highly organized, interconnected production line, Fournier says.

     "Some parts, made elsewhere, are imported into the factory," he says. "Other parts are made on site by a network of smaller machines that extrude, cut, and modify these pieces." Fournier will give a virtual tour of this process, describing the power and precision of the latter machines, the "snorps" discovered and studied in his laboratory, for applications in research and medicine.

     Fournier has been a member of the faculty since 1972. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at the University of Vermont and a doctoral degree in molecular biology at Dartmouth College. Before joining the University faculty, he held postdoctoral research appointments at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health.

     Fournier has received fellowships from NASA, the American Cancer Society, and the European Molecular Biology Organization, and research grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Defense, and the World Health Organization.

     Upcoming Distinguished Faculty Lectures include presentations by Alan C. Swedlund, professor of Anthropology, Mon. March 3; and Barbara Osborne, professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Wed. April 2.