Vincent Massey (enzymologist)

Vincent Massey
Born (1926-11-28)November 28, 1926
Berkeley, New South Wales, Australia
Died August 26, 2002(2002-08-26) (aged 75)
Nationality Australian
Fields Enzymology
Institutions McMaster Laboratory C.S.I.R.O.
Henry Ford Hospital
University of Sheffield
The University of Michigan
Alma mater University of Sydney (B.S., 1947)
University of Cambridge (Ph.D., 1953)
Thesis Studies on the Enzyme, Fumarase (1953)
Doctoral advisor Malcolm Dixon
Known for Flavin Enzymology
Notable awards I.C.I. Fellow, University of Cambridge (1953–1955)
Humboldt Award (1973)
Senior Fellow, Michigan Society of Fellows (1975–1980)
Elected Fellow of Royal Society of London (1977)
Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, The University of Michigan (1983)
National Academy of Sciences Member, Biochemistry (1995)
Spouse Margot Grünewald
Website
www.bioc.rice.edu/~graham/Massey/VM.html

Vincent Massey (November 28, 1926 – August 26, 2002) was an Australian biochemist, more specifically an enzymologist, best known for his contributions to the study of flavoenzymes. Massey was nominated as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 for his use of physical biochemistry to relate flavin chemistry to flavin enzymology.[1][2][3]

Biography

Family life

Massey grew up in a small village outside of Berkeley in New South Wales, Australia. The men in his family were fishermen; Massey enjoyed fishing as he was growing up, however, he knew that fishing as a profession was not in his future. Massey discovered his passion for science when he was in high school and was doing experiments at home. He was the first in his family to go to university and he obtained a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney in biochemistry in 1947.

He met his wife Margot, a survivor of the Holocaust, while he was working at a government laboratory Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as a research biochemist. They married during his time there and left for the University of Cambridge in 1950, never again to live in Australia. Vincent and his wife had three kids, Charlotte, Rachel and Andrew.[4][5]

Academic career

After obtaining a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Sydney, Massey worked as a research biochemist for the CSIRO. He worked there for three years, and in that time published five papers on the inhibition of the TCA cycle in nematodes by fluoroacetate. The CSIRO awarded him with a fellowship that would allow him to pursue his doctoral degree at the University of Cambridge.

Massey did his thesis work with Malcolm Dixon. His thesis project revolved around the enzyme fumarase, which is not a flavoprotein. However, Massey was exposed to flavins in the lab through working with other students. After completing his thesis, he moved to the United States for a summer to work with Robert A. Alberty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Here, he continued studying fumarase and published in 1954 possibly the first thorough paper studying steady-state kinetics of an enzyme as a function of pH.

A colleague from Cambridge, Tom Singer, had accepted a position at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and recruited Massey to work with him to investigate the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase. Singer had recently discovered that FAD was covalently bound to the enzyme. This started Massey's career on flavins and flavoproteins.

In 1957, Massey returned to England to be a lecturer at the University of Sheffield in the Biochemistry Department. By 1961, he was promoted to senior lecturer. In 1963, Massey changed his career path and took a professorship position the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Massey was awarded the Henry Russel Lectureship in 1995, the highest recognition given to faculty members at the University of Michigan.

His major scientific contributions include the identification and kinetic characterization of lipoamide dehydrogenase and pioneering the methods of stopped-flow and rapid-freeze electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to study enzyme mechanisms.[4] He published over 400 papers and at least an additional 50 book chapters, symposia or reviews. He also had a significant mentoring role; his students included Charles H. Williams, Rowena G. Matthews and David P. Ballou, among others.[5]

Scientific achievements

References

  1. 1 2 "Vincent Massey". National Academy of Sciences. National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Williams, C. H.; Ballou, D. P. (2003). "Vincent Massey 28 November 1926 - 26 August 2002 Elected FRS 1977". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 49 (0): 335–350. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2003.0019. ISSN 0080-4606.
  3. ↑ Ballou, David P; Williams, Charles H; Coon, Minor J (2002). "Vincent Massey (1926–2002)". Trends in Biochemical Sciences 27 (12): 641–642. doi:10.1016/S0968-0004(02)02222-3. ISSN 0968-0004.
  4. 1 2 Ballou, David P.; Williams, Jr., Charles H. (2013). "Vincent Massey" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  5. 1 2 Vincent Massey. Box 84. News and Information Services. Bentley Historical Library. University of Michigan.
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