NIH scientist named Gluckstern Professor of Physics

V. Adrian Parsegian, a career researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been appointed the Robert L. Gluckstern Professor of Physics.

Parsegian’s appointment with tenure, which is effective Sept. 1, was made by President Jack M. Wilson after its approval by the Board of Trustees on June 10. Parsegian was recommended for the post by Chancellor Robert C. Holub following a nationwide search.

Recognized as a leading international scholar in biological physics, Parsegian received his Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University in 1965. After a two-year, postdoctoral appointment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the NIH as a research physicist. In 1984, he was promoted to head of the Unit on Molecular Forces. Parsegian became chief of the Laboratory of Structural Biology at NIH in 1994 and has held the post of chief of the Laboratory on Physical and Structural Biology since 1997.

During his career, Parsegian is the author of nearly 200 research articles and a book, “Van der Waals Forces: a handbook for biologists, chemists, engineers, and physicists,” published in 2006. Parsegian has also presented keynote addresses and other invited talks at venues worldwide and he has chaired three Gordon Research Conferences, international forums focused on new research in the biological, chemical and physical sciences and related technologies.

He was the founding editor of Biophysical Discussions and chief editor of Biophysical Journal. He also served on the editorial boards of seven other journals. Parsegian was president of the Biophysical Society and has chaired numerous workshops and conferences, including a 2008 program at the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Parsegian has received two NIH Director’s Awards, the Distinguished Service Award of the Biophysical Society, the Oesper Award from the University of Cincinnati’s chemistry department, and honorary degrees from the Universitat Jaume I in Spain and Yerevan State University in Armenia.

According to Holub’s recommendation, Parsegian’s appointment is important to the Physics Department’s long-range plans to develop a strong concentration in biological physics.

The Robert L. Gluckstern Professorship was established in 2001 in honor of the former department head credited with building the modern Physics program on campus in the mid-1960s. Robert Gluckstern also served as provost from 1970-75 before being named chancellor of the University of Maryland. Gluckstern died last year.

The professorship is intended for an “individual with a high quality scientific program who has played, or will play a key role in providing leadership of the Physics Department.” Appointment to the professorship is for seven years and is non-renewable.

July 14, 2009.

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