SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

John Gurdon

1933-10-02 – 2025-10-07

Professor Sir John Gurdon, winner of Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine 2012, at the annual Scholar's Dinner of Magdalene College, Cambridge, 10 October 2012Credit: Deryck Chan, courtesy to cameraman Sien Yi Tan.

Life & Legacy

Sir John Bertrand Gurdon (2 October 1933 – 7 October 2025) was a British developmental biologist, best known for his pioneering research in Cellular differentiation and nuclear transplantation and cloning.
Awarded the Lasker Award in 2009, in 2012, he and Shinya Yamanaka were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that mature cells can be converted to stem cells.

Occupation & Career

biologist, physician, university teacher, research scientist, Nobel Prize winner

Education

Christ Church; Eton College; Edgeborough School

Accomplishments, Inventions & Publications

Fellow of the Royal Society; Feldberg Foundation Prize; Croonian Medal and Lecture; Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize; Portland Press Excellence in Science Award; William Bate Hardy Prize; Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer; Royal Medal; Ross G. Harrison Award; International Prize for Biology; Wolf Prize in Medicine; Knight Bachelor; Edwin Grant Conklin Medal; Copley Medal; Rosenstiel Award; Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research; honorary doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; Harveian Oration; honorary doctor of Paris Descartes University

Legacy Highlights

Honors & Awards

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research · Copley Medal · Croonian Medal and Lecture · Edwin Grant Conklin Medal · Feldberg Foundation Prize · Fellow of the Royal Society · Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer · Harveian Oration · honorary doctor of Paris Descartes University · honorary doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel · International Prize for Biology · Knight Bachelor · Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine · Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize · Portland Press Excellence in Science Award · Rosenstiel Award · Ross G. Harrison Award · Royal Medal · William Bate Hardy Prize · Wolf Prize in Medicine

Employer

California Institute of Technology · University of Cambridge · University of Oxford

Organizations & Memberships

Academia Europaea · American Academy of Arts and Sciences · American Philosophical Society · French Academy of Sciences · National Academy of Sciences · Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium · Royal Society of London