FRANK W. PUTNAM ’39

FRANK W. PUTNAM, distinguished professor emeritus of molecular biology at the University of Indiana and a pioneer in the study of proteins found in human blood, died Nov. 29, 2006. He was 89. Orphaned at age 3, he was raised in an orphanage in New Britain, Conn., and supported himself through Wesleyan on scholarships and by winning academic prizes in a variety of disciplines. Elected to Sigma Xi and to Phi Beta Kappa, he received his degree with honors and with high distinction in chemistry. He was a member of the John Wesley Club. After receiving a master’s degree from Wesleyan, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and later received an honorary degree from Cambridge University. During World War II he served as a civilian in the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service. A faculty member and researcher at Duke University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Florida, where he developed new techniques for analyzing the amino acid sequences of proteins, in 1965 he joined the faculty at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he founded one of the first programs in molecular biology. His research team published the first complete primary structure of human gamma globulin in 1967, and he subsequently published the first complete structure for two additional classes of immunoglobulins, IgA and IgM. He was the recipient of numerous national and international awards and honors. Predeceased by his wife, Dorothy Linder Putnam, he is survived by his son, Frank W. Putnam ’69, M.D., a daughter, and five grandchildren.