Alexander N. Glazer

Alexander N. Glazer is a Professor of the Graduate School and Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1998 through 2009 he served as director of the University of California Natural Reserve System, which manages 39 reserves distributed among twelve ecological regions in California. From 1997-2005 he served as the University of California System representative on the California Biodiversity Council. Through incisive biochemical and spectroscopic studies, Glazer contributed richly to defining the molecular architecture of the cyanobacterial and red algal phycobiliprotein complexes (phycobilisomes) - the light-absorbing antennae that harvest light energy over a wide range of wavelengths and transfer it very efficiently to chlorophyll-containing photosystems for conversion to chemical energy. In over ten years of work on the human genome project, he collaborated in developing very high sensitivity methods and reagents for DNA detection and sequencing. Whereas his longstanding interests are in protein chemistry, biophysical chemistry, and structure-function relationships, currently his primary focus is on diverse issues in environmental sciences.