Robert Burns Woodward was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on April 10, 1917, to Margaret and Arthur Woodward. His father died when he was only one year old. His mother later remarried and became Margaret Woodward Chase.
Woodward was an eager student in Quincy public schools and showed an early interest in chemistry. He was accepted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1933 at age 16. At the end of the fall semester in 1934 he was asked to withdraw. MIT did allow him to re-enter the following fall.
Woodward displayed an remarkable resurgence in scholarly pursuits and completed his BS in 1936 (age 19) and his PhD in 1937 (age 20).
Woodward joined Harvard University, where he remained for most of his career, advancing in rank as well as in renown for his research. From 1937 to 1938 he was a postdoctoral Fellow. From 1938 to 1940 he was a member of the Society of Fellows. From 1941 to 1944 he was an instructor in chemistry, from 1944 to 1946 an assistant professor, from 1946 to 1950 an associate professor, from 1950 to 1953 a full professor. From 1953 to 1960, he was the Morris Loeb Professor of Chemistry. Beginning in 1960, he was named the Donner Professor of Science, a position he held until his death.
Woodward was also associated with the Woodward Research Institute in Basel, Switzerland, and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Woodward's brilliance was seen in his work on the structure of organic chemical compounds. His research included:
- penicillin (1945), one of a group of antibiotics biosynthesized by several species of molds, esp. Penicillium notatum and P. chrysogenum
- strychnine (1947), a poisonous alkaloid, used to kill rodents that may produce nausea and vomiting, symmetrical muscle spasms, fever, muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), and renal failure
- terramycin (1952), a yellow crystalline antibiotic (trademark Terramycin) obtained from a soil actinomycete
- aureomycin (1952), a yellow crystalline antibiotic (trade name Aureomycin) used to treat certain bacterial and rickettsial diseases
However, he is best known, and received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1965, for his contributions to the chemical synthesis of organic substances including:
- quinine (1944), a bitter white crystalline alkaloid derived from cinchona bark and used as an antimalarial, usually administered in the form of its salts
- patulin (1950)
- cholesterol (1951), a sterol widely distributed in animal tissues and occurring in egg yolks, various oils, fats, myelin in brain, spinal cord and axons, liver, kidneys, and adrenal glands
- cortisone (1951), a hormone isolated from the cortex of the adrenal gland and also prepared synthetically, which regulates the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates, sodium, potassium, and proteins, and is also used as an anti-inflammatory agent
