Jonathan R. Beckwith papers

Jonathan R. Beckwith (born 1935), A.B., Ph.D., Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the American Cancer Society Research Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He is a microbiologist and geneticist who has focused throughout his career on bacterial genetics, including gene expression, membrane proteins, protein secretion, disulfide bonds, and cell division. With James Shapiro (born 1943) and Lawrence J. Eron (born 1944), he is credited with isolating the first gene from a bacterial chromosome in 1969. He is also known for his social activism in the science community, advocating for social responsibility in scientific and genetic research, and arguing against genetic, racial, and gender discrimination in science and society.

Jonathan R. Beckwith was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 25, 1935 to Manuel Beckwith (born circa 1911) and Sylvia M. Beckwith (born circa 1912). He received his A.B. in Chemistry and his Ph.D. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University in 1957 and 1961, respectively. He held several postdoctoral fellowships between 1961 and 1965: serving under Arthur Pardee at the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey; serving under William Hayes and Sidney Brenner at the MRC Microbial Genetic Research Unit, Cambridge, England; and finally serving under Francois Jacob at Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. In 1965 he moved back to Boston, Massachusetts, where he was named an Associate in the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology at Harvard Medical School, where he remained throughout his career. He held various appointments throughout his tenure at Harvard Medical School, including: Assistant Professor (1966-1968), Associate Professor (1968-1969), and Professor (1969-1980) in the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology; and Professor (1969-1980) in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. In 1980 he was named American Cancer Society Research Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and has held the position throughout his tenure at Harvard Medical School.

During the period of Beckwith's tenure at Harvard Medical School, he has served on various campus and departmental committees, including as: Chair of the Task Force on Employment and Paramedical Education of the Commission on Relations with the Black Community (circa 1966-1970); Faculty Sponsor of Harvard University’s Campus Tenant’s Support Union (circa 1969-1975); Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (1971-1973), and as a member of the Harvard Medical School Faculty Council (1999-2002). Between 1973 and 1975, he also led an opposition movement against Stanley Walzer’s (died 2014) Harvard-based genetic screening study, which proposed a link between an extra Y chromosome in male newborn infants with future criminality. Beckwith has also held various travel fellowships, visiting professorships, and consulting positions throughout his career, including as: Guggenheim Fellow at Instituto Internazionale di Genetica e Biofisica, Naples, Italy (1970), where he studied genetic repression using RNA polymerase; Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, New England BioLabs, Beverly, Massachusetts (1981-1991); Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (1985); Samuel Rudin Visiting Professor at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City (1991); and Consultant to the Genentech Corporation (1994-1998).

Beckwith is most known for his work in microbiology and bacterial genetics, focusing on gene expression, protein secretion, membrane protein structure and function, the formation of disulfide bonds, cell division, and the Lac operon. With James Shapiro and Lawrence J. Eron, he is credited with isolating the first gene from a bacterial chromosome in 1969. Since perceiving the potential social implications of that work, he has been an advocate for social responsibility in science and genetics. Toward these ends, he has spoken and published on topics such as sociobiology, genetic screening, genetic discrimination, human behavior, criminality, intelligence, gender roles, and race. He has served as: President of the Board of Directors for Science for the People; a member of various Science for the People committees, including the Genetic Screening Study Group, the Science Teaching Group, and the Sociobiology Study Group; and a member of the National Institutes of Health and Department of Energy Joint Working Group on Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of the Human Genome Project. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, among numerous other professional affiliations. In 2011, Beckwith was awarded the American Society for Microbiology Graduate Microbiology Teaching Award. His further awards and honors include: the Eli Lilly Award for Outstanding Achievements in Microbiology (1970); the Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health (1986); the Genetics Society of America Medal (1993); the Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society for Microbiology (2005); Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology from the National Academy of Sciences; and the Edinburgh Medal for professional achievements that have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity (2009), among numerous other honors. He has published over 300 scientific articles, over 100 publications related to the social implications of science, and several books, including: The Power of Bacterial Genetics: A Literature-Based Course (1992), with Thomas J. Silhavy; The Double-Edged Helix: Social Implications of Genetics in a Diverse Society (2002), with Joseph S. Alper (born 1946), Catherine Ard, Adrienne Asch (died 2013), Peter Conrad, and Lisa N. Geller; and his memoir, Making Genes, Making Waves: A Social Activist in Science (2002).

Jonathan R. Beckwith married Barbara Shutt (born 1937) on December 26, 1960. They have two children, Benjamin Hunter Beckwith (born 1961) and Anthony Rhys Beckwith (born 1964).