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Rowena Green Matthews is the G. Robert Greenberg Distinguished University professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research focuses on the role of organic cofactors as partners of enzymes catalyzing difficult biochemical reactions, especially folic acid and cobalamin (vitamin B12). Among other honors, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2002 and the Institute of Medicine in 2004.
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Early life and education
Matthews was born in Cambridge, England while her father, biochemist David E. Green, was on sabbatical there. Matthews earned her B.A. in biology summa cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1960. As an undergraduate, and for three years thereafter, she worked with George Wald studying a new intermediate in the bleaching of the visual pigment rhodopsin that temporally coincided with initiation of visual excitation. She then went to graduate school in biophysics at the University of Michigan, where she did her dissertation research in the laboratory of Vincent Massey. She received her Ph.D. in 1969.
Academic career
After finishing her Ph.D., Matthews remained at the University of Michigan, where she spent her research career. She became a research investigator in 1974 and an assistant professor the following year. She became a full professor in 1986 and was appointed G. Robert Greenberg Distinguished University Professor in 1995. She retired in 2007, assuming professor emeritus status. She received numerous recognitions and honors during her career, including election to the National Academy of Sciences (2002), the American Academy of Microbiology (2002), the Institute of Medicine (2004), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005), and the American Philosophical Society (2009). She received the William C. Rose Award given by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2000 and the Repligen Corporation Award in Chemistry of Biological Processes given by the American Chemical Society in 2001.
She was the Frederick Gowland Hopkins Lecturer at 12th International Conference of Pteridines and Folates in 2001, an honor she particularly appreciated because her father had worked with Hopkins. She serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and has served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences.
The University of Michigan hosts a professorship honoring Matthews; since 2009 James Bardwell has held the Rowena G. Matthews Collegiate Professorship.
Research
Matthews' research program focused on enzymes that require cofactors, particularly folic acid and cobalamin (vitamin B12), in order to catalyze their reaction. Matthews was particularly interested in the enzymes methionine synthase and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. She collaborated extensively with protein crystallographer Martha Ludwig and molecular geneticist Rima Rozen, among others.
Personal life
Matthews is the eldest daughter of biochemist David E. Green and the aunt of United States Senator Tammy Baldwin.