Professor Colin A. Wraight passed away July 10, 2014 at the age of 68 after a long and heroic struggle with cancer. Professor Wraight employed biochemical and biophysical methods to understand how the structure of membrane proteins allowed them to catalyze the transfer of electrons and protons in biological energy conversion, processes fundamental to life on this planet.
Born in 1945 in London, UK, Wraight studied at the University of Bristol, earning his B.S. in 1967 and his PhD in 1971. After postdoctoral research at the University of Leiden and Cornell University, and a brief faculty position at the University of California at Santa Barbara, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1975 as an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Plant Biology, Physiology, and Biophysics. He held many positions during his years on the faculty of the university, including serving as Director of the Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology from 1995-1999. He joined the Biochemistry Department in 1999 and served as Head of Biochemistry from 2004-2009. He also held faculty positions in the Departments of Plant Biology and Molecular & Integrative Physiology.
In addition to his important research contributions, Professor Wraight was a passionate teacher and mentor, and an outstanding colleague who gave unselfishly to others. He was known for the breadth and depth of his knowledge, quick wit, and the gracious hospitality that he and his wife, Mary, extended to all. His dedication to teaching and graduate training even during his illness was an inspiration to all who knew him.
He is survived by Mary and their children, Lydia, Tristan and Sebastian.
“He was the first one to show that bacterial reaction centers converted light energy into chemical energy with almost 98% efficiency, and that certain herbicides function by displacing a specific bound quinone molecule.”
—Dr. Govindjee, Professor Emeritus of Biophysics and Plant Biology and longtime friend and colleague of Wraight's.
Education
- B.S. 1967 Bristol University, U.K.
- Ph.D. 1971 Bristol University, U.K.
- Postdoc. 1971-72 University of Leiden, The Netherlands, 1972-74 Cornell University