The Joel Keizer Endowed Chair in Theoretical Biology
Joel Keizer
To honor Joel Keizer (1942-1999) and his contributions to science, the University of California, Davis, seeks to create the Joel Keizer Endowed Chair in Theoretical Biology. The major questions in modern biology are increasingly of sufficient diversity and complexity that they can only be addressed in collaboration across the boundaries of traditional disciplines.
Joel Keizer exemplified this breadth of approach and inclusiveness in his research. The Joel Keizer Endowed Chair in Theoretical Biology will recognize and continue Joel's leadership by supporting collaborative, interdisciplinary work in the life sciences. This chair will provide permanent support to theoretical research, adding to the current Davis strength in experimental biology. The data now emerging are of such staggering complexity that simple observation no longer is sufficient to identify and understand patterns and processes. A sound theoretical framework and strong computational methods are integral to predicting new directions for experiments and to making sense of results. The Joel Keizer Endowed Chair will offer a wonderful enhancement to UC Davis's strength in theoretical approaches to problems in biology.
Through the generosity of donors, more than $180,000 of the $350,000 needed to fund this endowment has been raised. Please pledge your support now by contacting Elizabeth Bacon.
The Keizer Prize
The Joel Keizer Prize in Theoretical Biology was established in October 2006 in conjunction with the effort to create an Endowed Chair in Theoretical Biology to honor Joel's vision and contribution to the field of biology. This $4,000 prize is awarded annually to an outstanding Ph.D. thesis involving theoretical research in the life sciences. The first prize was awarded in June 2008 to Dr. Brian O’Meara, a quantitative phylogeneticist, described by his nominators as “passionate about understanding biological questions by applying quantitative methods.” O'Meara earned a Ph.D. in Population Biology from UC Davis.
Dean Ken Burtis, Dr. Brian O'Meara, and Susan Keizer
More about Joel Keizer
Joel’s scientific legacy encompassed several fields. Joel originally trained as a chemist at the University of Oregon under Terrell Hill, where he received his doctorate in theoretical physical chemistry, and did postdoctoral work in chemical physics at the Battelle Institute in Columbus, Ohio. He began his career in 1971 at the University of California, Davis, as an assistant professor of chemistry. He pioneered an approach to the thermodynamics of non-equilibrium steady states, which culminated in the monograph, “Statistical Thermodynamics of Nonequilibrium Processes” in 1987. By this time, he had over 60 journal publications to his credit.
In the 1980s, Joel gradually shifted his research program and focused his powerful intellect on problems within the biological sciences, first on mathematical models of insulin secretion, and later on intracellular calcium oscillations and diffusion. He subsequently transferred his appointment to the Division of Biological Sciences, where both theoreticians and empiricists respected and admired Joel for his strong modeling work and his insightful collaborations with experimental biologists.
Joel’s vision and generosity in collaboration served as an inspiration to other research scientists. In 1986, Joel established an interdisciplinary think-tank at UC Davis – the Institute of Theoretical Dynamics – and served as its director until his death. Faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and students worked together at the Institute in an atmosphere unconstrained by the boundaries imposed by traditional disciplines. Further, he often opened his home after seminars so that guests, colleagues, and students might continue discussing science in a more convivial setting. Joel also had a formative role in a training grant on nonlinear dynamics in biology funded by the National Science Foundation and, through this grant, helped to mentor an even broader array of students in the art of collaborative research.