PAUL C. LAUTERBUR

Paul C. Lauterbur (b. 1929 in Sidney, Ohio) is Professor and was for many years Director of the Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Laboratory, University of Illinois in Urbana. He and Peter Mansfield of the University of Nottingham shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning magnetic resonance imaging". Paul Lauterbur received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, in 1951 and his Ph.D. also in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 1962. Between 1969 and 1985 he was Professor of Chemistry at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has been at the University of Illinois since 1985. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A. (1985) and has received numerous awards and other recognitions. He has the Gold Medal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (1982); the Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award (1984); the European Magnetic Resonance Award (1986); the National Medal of Science (1987); the Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology (1994); the National Academy of Sciences Award for Chemistry in Service to Society (2001); and others.

We recorded our conversation on February 1, 2004, in the Lauterburs' home in Urbana, Illinois.