William J. Rutter is an American biochemist who cofounded the early biotechnology Chiron Corporation

Chiron Corporation

Chiron Corporation was a multinational biotechnology firm based in Emeryville, California that was acquired by Novartis International AG on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. Chiron's business and research was in three main areas:...

 together with Edward Penhoet and Pablo DT Valenzuela

Pablo DT Valenzuela

Pablo DT Valenzuela is a Chilean biochemist dedicated to biotechnology development. He is known for his genetic studies of hepatic viruses; participated as R&D Director in the discovery of Hepatitis C virus and the invention of the first recombinant vaccine, against Hepatitis B virus...

. As Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the University of California, San Francisco

University of California, San Francisco

The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...

, Rutter helped establish that department as a leader in the academic side of the biotechnology during the San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

 biotech boom of the 1980s.

Rutter spent a short time in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and one year Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

, before completing a B.A. (1949) in biochemistry at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. He earned an M.S. (1950) from University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 and a Ph.D. (1952) from the University of Illinois with a dissertation on galactosemia

Galactosemia

Galactosemia is a rare genetic metabolic disorder that affects an individual's ability to metabolize the sugar galactose properly. Although the sugar lactose can metabolize to galactose, galactosemia is not related to and should not be confused with lactose intolerance...

. Between 1952 and 1968, Rutter held positions at the University of Wisconsin, the Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities...

, University of Illinois, Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 and University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

. In 1969, he moved to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he led the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics until 1982. From 1983 until 1989, Rutter was Director of the Hormone Research Institute at UCSF.

External links

• William J. Rutter Papers, MSS 94-54, Archives & Special Collections, UCSF Library & CKM
• William J. Rutter - The Biotechnology Hall of Fame, Chemical Heritage Foundation