Gerald Edelman

Gerald Maurice Edelman (July 1, 1929 – May 17, 2014) was an American biologist renowned for his pioneering work in immunology and neuroscience.

He shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Rodney R. Porter for their independent discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies, which elucidated how the immune system generates diversity in recognizing pathogens.

Gerald Maurice Edelman was born on July 1, 1929, in the Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City, to Jewish parents Edward Edelman, a physician, and Anna (née Freedman) Edelman, who worked in the insurance industry with connections to Wall Street. His father, trained as a surgeon but practicing as a general practitioner in a poor neighborhood, had survived polio in his youth, which fostered a family empathy toward disability and an emphasis on medical science as a profession. The family later spent time in Long Beach, Long Island, where Edelman continued his early years amid a blend of urban and suburban influences.