Gordon Hammes

Gordon G. Hammes (born 1934 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) is a distinguished service professor of chemistry, emeritus, at Duke University, professor emeritus at Cornell University, and member of United States National Academy of Sciences. Hammes' research involves the study of enzyme mechanisms and enzyme regulation.

Early life and education Hammes was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1934. He earned his B.A. from Princeton University in 1956 and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1959.

Hammes was editor-in-chief of the American Chemical Society journal Biochemistry from 1992 until 2003, and president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology starting in 1994. The Gordon Hammes ACS Biochemistry Lectureship was established in 2009 in order to honor significant contributions to the field of biochemistry.

Research papers Dr. Hammes is a world leader in the field of enzyme mechanisms and regulation, starting with work with Eigen on the temperature-jump technique and with Robert Alberty on diffusion-controlled reactions to enzyme kinetics. He studied the kinetic behavior of various enzymes, including glutamate-aspartate transaminase, hexokinase, and ribonuclease. He developed new methodologies that allowed a better understanding of enzyme catalysis, including fast reaction techniques, His work revolutionized the understanding of conformational changes and multiple intermediates in enzyme catalysis. Dr. Hammes has published more than 250 scientific articles.

Books

Books written by Hammes include the following:

Thermodynamics and Kinetics for the Biological Sciences (2000)

Spectroscopy for the Biological Sciences (2005)

Physical Chemistry for the Biological Sciences (2015) with his daughter Sharon Hammes-Schiffer

Awards and distinctions 1956 – McKay Prize in Chemistry 1967 – American Chemical Society Award in Biological Chemistry 1967 – Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry 2002 – American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology William C. Rose Award 2008 – American Chemical Society Biochemistry Lectureship, Scholarship Award created in 2016 2009 – Vallee Foundation board of directors