Chris Kitchen

Karen E. Burke '67, Ph.D. '73, and Professor Emeritus Harold Scheraga were the guests of honor at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Scheraga-Burke meeting room in the Physical Sciences Building, Sept. 23.

Kicking off a weekend to celebrate an esteemed Cornell professor's 90th birthday, friends and alumni packed the fourth floor of the Physical Sciences Building Sept. 23 to dedicate a room named for Harold Scheraga, the George W. and Grace L. Todd Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

The Scheraga-Burke Meeting Room and its plaque, whose inscription reads that Scheraga has "inspired and mentored so many scientists," was a gift from a former student of Scheraga, Karen E. Burke '67, Ph.D. '73, and her husband, Peter John Goulandris.

Scheraga's 90th birthday was celebrated the following day with an academic symposium that drew scores of friends and former students to campus.

The room's ribbon-cutting ceremony, complete with a pair of giant scissors, included remarks from President David Skorton; College of Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Lepage, as well as Burke and Scheraga.

"I just can't explain the inspiration I got from Harold's extraordinary intellect," said Burke, who is a practicing medical doctor and researcher. "He created a whole new field, as all of his students and colleagues here know."

Scheraga, a fellow of the American Chemical Society, National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and author of close to 1,300 scientific papers, is known for his research into protein structure. His many contributions including pioneering experimental and theoretical research on the interactions involved in protein folding in a water environment.

Burke also called Scheraga "forever energetic in the present," and someone who "always wants to be one step into the future."

Scheraga praised the quality of Burke's research she conducted under his guidance decades ago, and named her among one of his great graduate students.

"I'm just overwhelmed at what Karen and Peter have brought about," he told the beaming crowd of supporters.

The Sept. 24 academic symposium featured the following speakers: Charles Brooks III of the University of Michigan, Jane Dyson of Scripps Research Institute, Chris Floudas of Princeton University, Barry Honig of Columbia University, Robert Jernigan of Iowa State University, Jeffrey Skolnick of Georgia Tech, Dave Thirumalai of University of Maryland, and Peter Wright of Scripps Research Institute.

The celebration concluded with a birthday dinner with speaker Gordon Hammes, professor emeritus of Cornell and Duke universities.