Posted: Updated – 10:18 AM on Sat – 11/12/22
Venkatraman “Venki” Ramakrishnan, 70, from the temple town of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, has worked as a biologist for more than 30 years, focusing much of his research on central questions in molecular biology.
London: Venki Ramakrishnan, an Indian-born Anglo-American structural biologist and Nobel laureate, has been appointed to the Order of Merit by King Charles III.
Venkatraman “Venki” Ramakrishnan, 70, from the temple town of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, has worked as a biologist for more than 30 years, focusing much of his research on central questions in molecular biology.
In 2009, he received the Nobel Prize together with Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for the high-resolution atomic structure of the ribosome, which opened up new possibilities for the development of antibiotics.
King Charles III made the appointment on Friday – his first since becoming Sovereign of the Order and the first since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The six new members were chosen by the Queen before her death.
“Appointments to the Order are made in recognition of outstanding service to the Armed Forces, science, art, literature or the promotion of culture. These individuals were chosen by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in early September,” the royal family website announced.
Ramakrishnan was knighted on the 2012 New Year’s Honours Roll for “contribution to molecular biology”. He is also the author of the best-selling book The Gene Machine, which documents his first-hand account of the discovery.
Ramakrishnan is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina and EMBO, and a Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences.
In 2017, he won the Gold Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement. A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Ramakrishnan was elected in 2015 as President of the Royal Society for a five-year term. He studied at the University of Baroda, Ohio University and UC San Diego.
In 2010, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan. The Order of Merit is a royal honor for distinguished service and this time four of the six new members are from ethnic minorities.
The order has 24 members drawn from the arts, sciences and armed forces.
