Nicholas R. Cozzarelli

Nicholas Robert Cozzarelli (March 26, 1938, in Jersey City, New Jersey – March 19, 2006) was an American biochemist at the University of California, Berkeley, and former editor-in-chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Education Cozzarelli attended Princeton University graduated with an A.B. in biology in 1960. He started graduate training at Harvard Medical School advised by E. C. C. Lin and earned a PhD in biochemistry in 1966. Cozzarelli was appointed a postdoctoral researcher with Arthur Kornberg and purified the T4-phage DNA ligase.

Career and research From 1968 to 1982, Cozzarelli was a professor at the University of Chicago where he studied topoisomerases. In 1982 he joined the faculty at University of California, Berkeley. In 1995, Cozzarelli was named as the editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and served in this role from 1995 to 2006. He took the position because he felt that the journal had great unrealized potential. During his tenure, he expanded the editorial board from 26 to more than 140 and created a second track to allow scientists who were not members of the National Academy of Sciences to submit manuscripts directly.

DNA Francis Crick wrote in his book What Mad Pursuit:

Awards and honors Cozzarelli was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1989. The Cozzarelli Prize is named in his honor.

Death Cozzarelli died on March 19, 2006, from the complications of treatment from Burkitt's lymphoma.