Paul B. Sigler ’55

Paul Sigler, one of the world's leading structural biologists, died of cardiac arrest Jan. 11, 2000.

Paul attended Bennett H.S. in Buffalo, N.Y., where he led both the student council and senior class. At Princeton he majored in chemistry, played IAA sports, joined the Creative Arts Group, the Chemical Society, Dial Lodge, and WPRU as a disc jockey.

Following training as a physician at Columbia P&S, where he also served his internship and residency, Paul turned full-time to basic research. He began working on enzyme function at NIH and in 1964 joined a small, prestigious group at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, England, where he continued his work on the atomic structure of enzymes. He then spent 20 years at the U. of Chicago, where he established the structure of the RNA molecule involved in protein synthesis, and began work on gene expression.

In 1989 Paul joined the Yale faculty and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. According to his colleagues, "Sigler's impact on the field of structural biology far exceeds his own contributions, as enormous as they are. He was an exciting and engaging presence . . . who communicated his enthusiasm for science to many over the world."

Paul is survived by his wife, Jo, brother Miles, daughters Jennifer, Michele '82, Deborah, Rebecca Africano, and son John '85. To them, we extend our deep sympathy.

The Class of 1955