B U L L E T I N Taft Portrait of a Graduate - The Taft School

PETER FINGER
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Alumni Citation of Merit Awarded to Dr. Alfred G. Gilman ’58
This year’s esteemed Alumni
Citation of Merit was awarded
to Nobel Laureate Dr. Alfred
G. Gilman ’58 who serves as
professor and chairman of pharmacology
at the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical
Center at Dallas. Dr. Gilman is
their Regental Professor and
holds the Raymond and Ellen
Willie Distinguished Chair in
Molecular Neuropharmacology.
In 1994 he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in medicine, along
with co-winner of the $930,000
prize Martin Rodbell, for the
discovery of G proteins and
their role in signal transduction
in cells. Understanding the
“wiring diagram” of a molecule’s
“switchboard” is key in enabling
drugs to work most effectively.
G proteins were discovered in
1980 by Gilman and other
colleagues who have continued to pursue
research on the critical role these
play within cells. Since that time, they
have worked to form an alliance that
will foster sharing of research on cell
signaling, creating a database by which
a “virtual cell” might be constructed.
Gilman now serves as director of the
Alliance for Cellular Signaling.
In a 2001 issue of Molecular Intervention,
Gilman stated of the Alliance
and its research, “Our goal
is to generate data—to identify
pieces of the signaling ‘puzzle,’
and then see how the pieces fit
together…What we will primarily
offer to the community is free
access to our data and insights
into how signaling systems are
built and organized.” Their findings
will be put in the public
domain through the Internet.
In a 1995 Bulletin interview
Gilman said, “Taft taught me
how to study, but more importantly,
Taft taught me how to
think, [and] how to go on learning
for the rest of my life. The
foundation I got there has carried
me through until now.”
Gilman has received numerous
professional awards
including the Albert Lasker
Award for Basic Medical Research
in 1989, the Richard Lounsbery
Award in 1989, and the John J. Abel
Award in Pharmacology in 1975. In addition,
he has authored over 100
scientific papers for professional journals.
The 2003 Alumni Citation of Merit States:
Alfred Gilman, humanitarian and renowned
leader in the scientific
community, your life’s singular quest
to understand and unravel the secrets
of nature for the benefit of mankind
was forged at Taft where, as a cum
laude society inductee and recipient
of the Rensselaer Alumni Medal for
excellence in mathematics and science,
you “learned how to learn.”
Earning your bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry
from Yale University and
doctorates of Medicine and Pharmacology
from Case Western Reserve
University, you applied your knowledge
in pursuit of unlocking the
mysteries of genetics and biochemistry
as Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
at the University of Virginia. But it was
during your tenure as Chair of the
Department of Pharmacology at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center that the culmination of your
prodigious contribution to science was
noted. Hailed for your landmark discovery
of the G-Protein component of basic
cellular function and communication,
you were recognized as a 1994 Nobel
Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.
Uncompromising and impassioned in
your commitment to excellence, innovative
and principled in your research,
humble and unselfish in your eagerness
to share your success, your
seminal work has been transformational,
engendering hope, inspiration,
and enrichment across the globe.
Alfred Gilman, you have lived a life
of purpose and achievement always
dedicated to upholding and preserving
your Alma Mater’s most cherished
ideal: non ut sibi ministretur sed ut
ministret. You have gracefully held
aloft the torch lighted by our Founder,
and it is with the greatest pride, respect,
and admiration that we bestow
upon you Taft’s highest honor, the
Alumni Citation of Merit.
Taft Bulletin Summer 2003
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