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Robert R. Birge, PhD ’72

Robert R. Birge, PhD ’72, The Harold S. Schwenk, Sr., Distinguished Chair in Chemistry at the University of Connecticut, has won the 2009 Connecticut Medal of Science, the state’s highest honor for scientists. “Dr. Birge’s pioneering work in protein engineering and biomolecular electronics has led to seminal discoveries in the fields of vision, quantum computation, and protein-based data processing,” said Frank W. Ridley, chairman of the Board of Governors for Higher Education. Birge was the first scientist to propose using proteins to store data. A protein-based disk drive that his research group developed in 1982 was the first such memory device ever produced. (See Graduate Notes for further information.)
Robert R. Birge, PhD ’72, The Harold S. Schwenk, Sr., Distinguished Chair in Chemistry at the University of Connecticut, has won the 2009 Connecticut Medal of Science, the state’s highest honor for scientists. “Dr. Birge’s pioneering work in protein engineering and biomolecular electronics has led to seminal discoveries in the fields of vision, quantum computation, and protein-based data processing,” said Frank W. Ridley, chairman of the Board of Governors for Higher Education. Birge was the first scientist to propose using proteins to store data. A protein-based disk drive that his research group developed in 1982 was the first such memory device ever produced. (See Graduate Notes for further information.)