Don Craig Wiley

{{Infobox scientist

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|10|21}}

| birth_place = Akron, Ohio, U.S.

| death_date = {{circa}} {{death date and age|2001|11|15|1944|10|21}}

| death_place = Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.

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| alma_mater = Tufts University
Harvard University

| thesis_title= The 5.5 ⁰A structure of the regulatory enzyme, aspartate transcarbamylase

| thesis_url = http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990040114880203941/catalog

| thesis_year = 1972

| doctoral_advisor = William N. Lipscomb, Jr.

| academic_advisors =

| doctoral_students = Michael Eisen{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|first=Michael Bruce |last=Eisen|title=Structural Studies of Influenza A Virus Proteins|publisher=Harvard University |date=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e2wAHwAACAAJ| authorlink=Michael Eisen|oclc=48938206}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 9185585

| year = 1997

| last1 = Eisen

| first1 = M. B.

| title = Binding of the influenza a virus to cell-surface receptors: Structures of five hemagglutinin-sialyloligosaccharide complexes determined by X-ray crystallography

| journal = Virology

| volume = 232

| issue = 1

| pages = 19–31

| last2 = Sabesan

| first2 = S

| last3 = Skehel

| first3 = J. J. | authorlink3= John Skehel

| last4 = Wiley

| first4 = D. C.

| doi = 10.1006/viro.1997.8526

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 7937734

| year = 1994

| last1 = Eisen

| first1 = M. B.

| title = HOOK: A program for finding novel molecular architectures that satisfy the chemical and steric requirements of a macromolecule binding site

| journal = Proteins: Structure, Function, and Genetics

| volume = 19

| issue = 3

| pages = 199–221

| last2 = Wiley

| first2 = D. C.

| last3 = Karplus

| first3 = M

| last4 = Hubbard

| first4 = R. E.

| doi = 10.1002/prot.340190305

| s2cid = 10765110

}}

Pamela J. Bjorkman

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William B. Coley Award
Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize
Japan Prize[http://www.japanprize.jp/en/prize_prof_1999_don.html Dr. Don C. Wiley]. japanprize.jp}}

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| spouse = Katrin Valgeirsdottir

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Don Craig Wiley (October 21, 1944 – {{circa}} November 15, 2001) was an American structural biologist.{{Cite journal

| pmid = 11823846

| year = 2002

| last1 = Ploegh

| first1 = H. L. | authorlink1 = Hidde Ploegh

| title = Obituary: Don Craig Wiley (1944-2001)

| journal = Nature

| volume = 415

| issue = 6871

| pages = 492

| doi = 10.1038/415492a

| bibcode = 2002Natur.415..492P

| doi-access = free

}}{{Cite journal

| pmid = 11812980

| year = 2002

| last1 = Strominger

| first1 = J. L.

| title = Don Craig Wiley (1944-2001): A reminiscence

| journal = Nature Immunology

| volume = 3

| issue = 2

| pages = 103–4

| doi = 10.1038/ni0202-103

| s2cid = 6362947

}}{{cite web|url=https://crystal.harvard.edu/don-c-wiley-1944-2001/|title=Don C. Wiley (1944 - 2001) Memorial website of the Wiley laboratory|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810161604/https://crystal.harvard.edu/wiley.html|archivedate=2014-08-10|publisher=Harvard University}}{{Scopus|id=7102603785}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1034/j.1600-6143.2002.20515.x| title = Don Craig Wiley (1944-2001)| journal = American Journal of Transplantation| volume = 2| issue = 5| pages = 480| year = 2002| last1 = Lechler | first1 = R. | doi-access = free}}

Education

Wiley received his doctoral degree in biophysics in 1971 from Harvard University, where he worked under the direction of the subsequent 1976 chemistry Nobel Prize winner William N. Lipscomb, Jr.[http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/01.10/08-wiley.html Harvard Gazette: Biologist Don C. Wiley, 1944-2001] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522201854/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/01.10/08-wiley.html |date=2011-05-22 }}

There, Wiley did early work on the structure of aspartate carbamoyltransferase, the largest molecular structure determined at that time.{{cite web|last=Sondra|first=Schlesinger|title=Oral history: Don Wiley|date=1999 |url=http://virologyhistory.wustl.edu/wiley.htm|work=Viruses: From structure to biology|publisher=American Society for Virology|accessdate=2013-11-15}} Noteworthy in this effort was that Wiley managed to grow crystals of aspartate carbamoyltransferase suitable for obtaining its X-ray structure, a particularly difficult task in the case of this molecular complex.

Career and research

Wiley was world-renowned for finding new ways to help the human immune system battle such viral scourges as smallpox, influenza, HIV/AIDS and herpes simplex.

Famous quote: "I'm sorry, but I just don't understand anything in biology unless I know what it looks like."{{cite web|last1=Ploegh|first1=Hidde L.|title=Don C. Wiley: A Tribute|url=http://labs.mcb.harvard.edu/DonWiley/Ploegh.html|website=Harvard University Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology|access-date=2017-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328021439/http://labs.mcb.harvard.edu/DonWiley/Ploegh.html|archive-date=2017-03-28|url-status=dead}}

Awards and honors

In 1990, he was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University. His research was honored with the 1993 Cancer Research Institute William B. Coley Award. Harvard called Wiley "one of the most influential biologists of his generation." In 1999, Wiley and another Harvard professor, Jack L. Strominger, won the Japan Prize for their discoveries of how the immune system protects humans from infections.{{cite news| url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/authorities-search-for-missing-harvard-virus-specialist | work=Fox News | title=Authorities Search For Missing Harvard Virus Specialist | date=24 November 2001}}

Personal life

Wiley owned a British racing green-colored Aston Martin.

He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,{{cite web |title=Don Craig Wiley |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/don-craig-wiley |access-date=16 December 2021 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}} the National Academy of Sciences,{{cite web |title=Don C. Wiley |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/43384.html |access-date=16 December 2021 |website=www.nasonline.org}} and the American Philosophical Society.{{cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Don+Craig+Wiley&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=16 December 2021 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}

Disappearance and death

Wiley disappeared on November 15, 2001. The official coroner's report stated that Wiley died after falling off a bridge near Memphis, Tennessee; his body was found in the Mississippi River {{Convert|300|mi}} downstream in Vidalia, Louisiana a month later and his death was ruled to be an accident.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Professor Don C. Wiley, 1944-2001 |date=21 December 2001 |url=http://www.news.harvard.edu/specials/2001/wiley/wileyobit.html |work=Office of news and public affairs |publisher=Harvard University |access-date=15 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504083749/http://www.news.harvard.edu/specials/2001/wiley/wileyobit.html |archive-date=4 May 2009}}{{cite news |title=Professor Don C. Wiley, 1944-2001 |date=15 January 2002 |url=http://news.harvard.edu/specials/2001/wiley/ |work=Office of news and public affairs |publisher=Harvard University |access-date=15 November 2013}}{{cite news |title=Harvard Biologist's Death Ruled Accidental |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/15/us/harvard-biologist-s-death-ruled-accidental.html |access-date=15 November 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=15 January 2002}} Shelby County Medical Examiner, Dr. O. C. Smith, conducted the investigation into Wiley's death.{{cite news |title=What Happened to Don Wiley? |date=15 May 2006 |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2006/05/15/what-happened-to-don-wiley/ |work=Boston Magazine |publisher=Metrocorp |access-date=25 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225234940/https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2006/05/15/what-happened-to-don-wiley/ |archive-date=25 February 2023}}{{cite news |title=Official Theory on Biochemist's Death |date=14 January 2002 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/official-theory-biochemists-death |work=Science Magazine |publisher=AAAS |access-date=25 February 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226003343/https://www.science.org/content/article/official-theory-biochemists-death|archive-date=26 February 2023}} Smith was quoted by a Boston Magazine article by Doug Most, which states: "Of all the measurements Smith took, one stood out: 8 inches. That's how narrow the curb is from the road to the railing, which is only 43 inches high. 'If he stood against the rail, it's hitting him in the back of the thigh,' Smith says. 'If he's startled or caught by a gust from an 18-wheeler, his center of gravity is 47 inches, near the top rail, below his hip.'" A 43" rail hitting a person in the back of the thigh would require a person to have an inseam of 41–44 inches. An inseam of 40 inches is recommended for persons 6' 11" to over 7' tall.{{cite news |title=Size Guides |date=25 February 2023 |url=https://www.2tall.com/us/sizeguides |work=2Tall |access-date=25 February 2023}}

Wiley was 6'3" and weighed 160 pounds, according to the Los Angeles Times.article " A Scientist’s Mystery" by Jeffrey Gettleman and Elizabeth Mehren, Nov. 30, 2001