Paul Greengard
Is an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the molecular and cellular function of neurons. In 2000, Greengard, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. He is currently a Professor at Rockefeller University, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Cure Alzheimer's Fund.
Was born on December 11, 1925 in New York City under tragic circumstances - his mother died giving birth to me him and his father remarried when he was only 13 months old. He was prevented access to his biological mother's family.
He attended public schools in Brooklyn and Queens. During World War II, he spent three years in the Navy as an electronics technician. After training, he was assigned to a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that was involved in developing an early-warning system to intercept Japanese planes before they could reach the ships of the U.S. fleet.
After the war, he attended Hamilton College where he majored in mathematics and physics, and from which he graduated in 1948. In thinking about various options after graduation he settled on the then field of biophysics.
Upon graduation from The Johns Hopkins University in 1953, he went to Europe for postdoctoral studies. His first year was at the University of London and his second year was at Cambridge University and then