Wald Given Rumford Prize For Biochemical Research

George Wald, professor of Biology, last night was awarded the 51st award of the Rumford Premium of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

At an Academy meeting in Brookline, Wald was presented with two traditional Rumford medals and a $5,000 cash prize for the "perceptive studies through which (Wald) has illuminated the biochemical basis of vision."

The recipient, in his Rumford Medal Lecture, spoke on the evolution of the capacity of plants and animals to respond to light cues. Wald described the responses in terms of molecular or chemical mechanisms.