Name William Stein | Fields Biochemistry Awards Nobel Prize in Chemistry | |
 | ||
Born June 25, 1911 ( 1911-06-25 ) Alma mater Harvard University, Columbia University Spouse Phoebe Hockstader (1936-1980; his death; 3 children) (1913-1989) Died February 2, 1980, New York City, New York, United States Notable awards Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1972) Education Harvard University, Columbia University | ||
Institutions Rockefeller University | ||
William Howard Stein (June 25, 1911 – February 2, 1980) was an American biochemist.
Life and career
Stein was born and died in New York City. He was the son of Beatrice Cecilla (Borg), a children's rights activist, and Fred Michael Stein, a banker. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University and Columbia University. He was a subsequently a researcher under Max Bergmann at Rockefeller University, where much of his most important work was done.
Stein won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1972 with Christian Boehmer Anfinsen and Stanford Moore, for their work on ribonuclease and for their contribution to the understanding of the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the ribonuclease molecule.
In 1958 he and Stanford Moore developed the first automated amino acid analyzer, which facilitated the determination of protein sequences. Stein remained at Rockefeller for his entire career, and held visiting professorships at Washington University at St. Louis, Haverford College, the University of Chicago and Harvard University.