Paul M. Doty

Who was Paul M. Doty?

Paul Mead Doty was an emeritus Harvard Mallinckrodt Professor of Biochemistry who specialized in the physical properties of macromolecules and was strongly involved in peace and security policy issues.

Doty was born in Charleston, West Virginia. He graduated from Penn State University in 1941 and took his doctorate from Columbia University under Joseph Edward Mayer. From 1943 to 1945, he was at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He joined the chemistry department Harvard University in 1948 and became a member of the National Academy of Science in 1957. In 1954, he helped to recruit James Watson to the Harvard Biolabs, the home of the Biology Department, as an assistant professor. Doty later helped to found the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and became its first chairman in 1968. His scientific work involved the characterization of biopolymers such as DNA, proteins and collagen by optical methods such as circular dichroism and light scattering. In his 42 years at Harvard, he supervised the research of 44 students, 10 of whom have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.