Genetics, Vol. 172, 723-724, February 2006, Copyright © 2006
doi:10.1534/genetics.104.17223

The 2006 George W. Beadle Medal

Anita Hopper

FRED Sherman has been awarded the 2006 George W. Beadle Medal for distinguished service to the field of genetics and to the genetics community. Professor Sherman is honored for his fundamental contributions to molecular biology, his service to the scientific community, and his key role in the education of budding yeast geneticists.

Sherman is one of the "fathers" of modern yeast genetics. He conducted key postdoctoral studies with Herschel Roman and Piotr Slonimski before embarking on his life-long exploitation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae iso-cytochromes c and their modifiers to address fundamental questions of genetics. A few of the major discoveries resulting from his work include: (1) establishment of the universality of the genetic code in eukaryotes by deducing the codons of the CYC1 gene through analysis of amino acid changes caused by mutations and their reversion; (2) comprehensive analysis of tRNA informational suppressors; (3) establishment of the rules for translational and transcriptional start sequences in yeast; (4) identification of transcriptional stops and 3' mRNA processing sites; (5) discovery of a family of N-terminal protein acetyltransferases; (6) key insights into mechanisms of DNA recombination and gene conversion and how these processes affect evolution; and (7) establishment of a yeast model for Batten disease. In addition to generating this substantial body of knowledge, Sherman was one of the early contributors to development of the methodology and genetic logic that all subsequent yeast molecular biologists have employed.

A theme throughout Sherman's career has been service to the scientific community. He was the chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester from 1979 to 1988. He served as an associate editor of three journals: Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Yeast. He served on numerous review panels for the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the National Research Council of Great Britain, and the Israel Cancer Research Fund and as chairperson of the Howard Hughes Evaluation Panel. Sherman has also played an important role in the genetics community as a member of the Board of Directors of the Genetics Society of America and as Chairman of the Genetics Section of the National Academy of Sciences. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1985.

Fred is legendary in the yeast community because of his extraordinarily generous training of yeast geneticists and molecular biologists. In 1970 he and Gerald Fink established the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory course on yeast genetics and molecular biology. This course served as the most important training vehicle for students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty members who wanted to learn the ins and outs of the budding yeast model system. Fred indoctrinated students in this course in the yeast community's "etiquette" of sharing of information and ideas and materials and methods. The course was one of the main reasons that a collegial community of yeast researchers quickly materialized, and it played a major role in establishing budding yeast as an important model organism for genetic analysis. Fred invested his time and his considerable energy in this course for 17 consecutive summers, through 1987! He has also trained numerous students and postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory, many of whom have become leaders in the field. The Genetics Society of America gratefully acknowledges Fred Sherman for his seminal scientific discoveries, his service to the scientific community, his good humor, and his many years of unselfishly training subsequent generations of yeast geneticists.


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  		Fred Sherman