Virtual Alumni Lecture with Dr. Tom Cech ’70:
"The Miracle Molecule, RNA"
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations invites you to join us for a virtual lecture by Dr. Tom Cech ’70, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry. Professor Cech will explain messenger RNA as well as roles of RNA in cancer, aging, and CRISPR gene editing.
Biology major Maya Gardner ’23, and bio-chemistry major Benjamin Brim ’23 will moderate a short virtual Q&A session for attendees following the lecture.
Virtual Lecture with Dr. Tom Cech ’70
7 p.m. CDT | Wednesday, Sept. 14
Zoom Lecture
Register below by Tuesday, Sept. 13. The Zoom link for the event will appear in your email confirmation.
About the Speaker
Growing up in Iowa, Dr. Cech majored in chemistry at Grinnell before graduating in 1970. His passion for the subject led him to earn his Ph.D at the University of California, Berkeley and then to a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Cech entered the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder where he continues to do research and teach as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry.
Dr. Cech shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Dr. Sidney Altman for their independent discoveries of the catalytic properties of RNA. His research on telomeres led his lab to discover the enzyme TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), which is already informing decisions about cancer treatment. Dr. Cech was the first executive director of the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado (2009-2021).
Dr. Cech's work has earned him numerous accolades and awards including: the Heineken Prize of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (1988), the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (1988), and the National Medal of Science (1995).
Questions? Contact Ashley Renstrom-Schaefer, associate director of alumni and donor relations, at schaefer@grinnell.edu or call 641-269-9317.
Online registrations for this event are now closed. Please call to register at 866-850-1846.