Cornell’s Division of Nutritional Sciences dedicated a plaque in the lobby of Savage Hall in honor of Prof. James B. Sumner, biochemistry, who won a Nobel Prize in 1946 for his discovery that enzymes can be crystallized. 

Cornell scientists, past and present, are anything but ordinary. The university prides itself in hiring some of the most intelligent people in the world, but its long list of innovative, brilliant, and award-winning minds is bound to have a few misunderstood characters. 

Barbara McClintock was the first female Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine to receive the prize unshared. She is celebrated today, among other things, for discovering transposable elements, for which she received the Nobel Prize in 1983. Her work, at a time when there were very few female scientists, made her a role model for many women.

Hans Bethe plunged into academic life at Cornell. His efforts transformed the physics department, with only fifteen faculty-members, into one of the country’s main centers for physics research.  Although Bethe applied his research to develop the first nuclear weapons, he spent his life advocating for nuclear regulation. And now, he is one of Cornell's most beloved scientists.

In light of this week’s announcement of the Nobel Prize winners, it is worth noting that Cornell can count among its alums three female winners of unshared Nobel Prizes.

The Nobel Committee’s decision to award President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize calls into question the purpose of this prestigious award. If the prize serves to recognize concrete action and tangible efforts towards peace, the committee failed to adhere to these measures. Yet, if the committee sought to praise intent and catalyze future action, their decision was dead on.

Jack Szostak ’77 won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine yesterday, the Nobel Assembly announced. Szostak was part of a three-person team that discovered an enzyme that prevents chromosomes from unraveling when a cell divides. The discoveries may someday lead to a cure for cancer and even an antidote for aging.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Americans Leonid Hurwicz, Eric S. Maskin and Roger B. Myerson won the Nobel prize in economics on Monday for developing a theory that helps explain situations in which markets work and others in which they don't.

The three researchers "laid the foundations of mechanism design theory," which plays a central role in contemporary economics and political science, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

The academy said their research helped explain decision-making procedures involved in economic transactions including, for example, what insurance policies will provide the best coverage without inviting misuse.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Two American scientists and a Briton won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for groundbreaking discoveries that led to a powerful technique for manipulating mouse genes.

The widely used process has helped scientists use mice to study heart disease, diabetes, cancer, cystic fibrosis and other diseases.

The prize is shared by Mario R. Capecchi, 70, of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; Oliver Smithies, 82, a native of Britain now at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and Sir Martin J. Evans, 66, of Cardiff University in Wales.