Dixon’s talk, the second in a series to celebrate the establishment of a new Bates major in biological chemistry, will include a discussion of the biochemistry of cell cycling and the role of biological chemistry research in society.

President-elect of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dixon has recieved numerous awards and research grants, including substantial support from the National Institutes of Health , Parke-Davis and Walther Cancer Institute. The Minor J. Coon Professor and chair of biological chemistry at the University of Michigan, Dixon was named Michigan Scientist of the Year in 1994.

Dixon serves as a consultant for Monsanto Chemical Company in St. Louis, Mitotix Incorporated in Cambridge, Mass., and Dendritech Inc. in Midland, Mich. The executive editor of “Analytical Biochemistry” and a member of the editorial boards for “American Journal of Physiology,” “Endocrinology” and “Biochemistry,” his current research focuses on the structure function of protein tyrosine phosphatases and on pancreatic hormones.

The author of close to 200 scientific papers and a contributor to scores of books, Dixon received a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Ph.D from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a postdoctoral fellowship in biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.

Before moving to the University of Michigan in 1991, Dixon taught for 18 years at Purdue University where he was the Harvey W. Wiley Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry from 1986-91. He served as a faculty member of the Indiana University School of Medicine from 1976-91.

The seminar series is co-sponsored by the President’s Office and the Biological Chemistry Program Committee at Bates.