Michael F. Summers
American scientist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Finley Summers is the Robert E. Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring and a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.[1][2] He serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Molecular Biology.[3] Since 1994, he has been a HHMI Investigator as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2016.[4][1]
Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring
Biochemistry
Michael F. Summers | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | St. Petersburg Junior College University of West Florida Emory University |
| Awards | Emily M. Gray Award Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biophysics Biochemistry |
| Institutions | Howard Hughes Medical Institute University of Maryland Baltimore County |
| Thesis | Studies of B12 Analogs and Models Containing Bis (dimethylglyoximato) and Bis (salicylidine)-o-phenylenediamine as Equatorial Ligands (1984) |
| Luigi Marzilli | |
Other academic advisors | Ad Bax |
Education and early life
Michael F. Summers earned his A.A. degree from St. Petersburg Junior College in 1978, and then a B.S. in chemistry from the University of West Florida in 1980. He then earned his Ph.D. in Bioinorganic Chemistry from Emory University in 1984.[4]
Career and research
From 1984 to 1987, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the NIH under Dr. Adrian Bax.[2][4][5] Since 1987, he has been a UMBC Faculty member.
His career has focused on using structural approaches to studying protein, RNA, and macromolecular interactions with HIV-1 genome packaging and virus assembly.[6][4] He is particularly well known for using NMR. He has also been a major proponent for retaining minority students in the sciences through undergraduate involvement in research as well as involvement with the Meyerhoff Scholars Program.[6][7][8] He is also involved with adapting the Meyerhoff Scholars program at other schools with HHMI such as Penn State and UNC.[9]