Dickinson College - News and Events - Pohanka Chair Installed

priestley award
november 14, 2005

Peter Agre, Nobel Laureate and vice chancellor of science and technology at Duke University, presented the Priestley Award lecture on "Aquaporin Water Channels: From Atomic Structure to Clinical Medicine." Agre discussed the high water permeability of certain biological membranes due to the presence of aquaporin water channel proteins, which have been associated with human clinical disorders such as brain edema and muscular dystrophy. Plant aquaporins are involved in numerous processes including the uptake of water by rootlets and carbon dioxide by leaves. Established in 1952, the annual Priestley Award honors a distinguished scientist who has made discoveries contributing to the welfare of mankind. The award commemorates Joseph Priestley, a Pennsylvania scientist, scholar and friend of Dickinson College, who isolated oxygen. Former Priestley Award recipients include Francis Crick, Stephen Jay Gould, Margaret Mead and Carl Sagan.

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Read more about the award and its recipient.

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Photos by A. Pierce Bounds, Dickinson College

Peter Agre expresses his enthusiasm
at receiving the Priestley Award.

President Bill Durden '71 introduces
Peter Agre to the audience in ATS.

Left: Jen Havens '06 looks on as Agre speaks to her
class on metabolism.

Above: Oswaldo Aguirre '06 contemplates Agre's words.

Above: Scott Nowicki during the metabolism class.

Agre during his lecture in ATS.

Agre recieves the 2005 Priestley Award while President
Durden and Carol Loeffler of the Biology Department
look on.