Stanley was born in
Ridgeville, Indiana, and earned a BSc in chemistry at
Earlham College in
Richmond, Indiana. He then studied at the
University of Illinois, gaining an MS in science in 1927 followed by a
PhD in chemistry two years later. His later accomplishments include writing the book "Chemistry: A Beautiful Thing" and being a
Pulitzer Prize nominee.
Research Although a member of
National Research Council, he moved to
Munich for temporary academic work with
Heinrich Wieland before he returned to the
United States in 1931. On return he was approved as an assistant at
The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. He remained with the Institute until 1948, becoming an Associate Member in 1937, and a Member in 1940. Individual viral particles would only be truly seen for the first time in 1942 after the invention of the
electron microscope due to the work by
Thomas F. Anderson and
Salvador Luria on
bacteriophages. Stanley was elected to the
American Philosophical Society in 1940 and the United States
National Academy of Sciences in 1941. He was awarded a ¼ share His other notable awards included the Rosenburger Medal, Alder Prize, Scott Award, the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement and the
AMA Scientific Achievement Award. He was also awarded
honorary degrees by many universities both American and foreign, including
Harvard,
Yale,
Princeton and the
University of Paris. Most of the conclusions Stanley had presented in his Nobel-winning research were soon shown to be incorrect (in particular, that the
crystals of mosaic virus he had
isolated were pure protein, and assembled by
autocatalysis).
Personal life Stanley married Marian Staples (1905–1984) in 1929 and had three daughters (Marjorie, Dorothy and Janet) and a son (Wendell Meredith Junior). Stanley Hall at UC Berkeley (now Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility) and Stanley Hall at Earlham College are named in his honor. His daughter, Marjorie, married
Robert Albo, physician to the
Golden State Warriors basketball team as well as the
Oakland Raiders football team. He died in
Salamanca, Spain on June 15, 1971. ==References==