Dr. James Dewey Watson 1928 – 2025.

 Dr. James Watson was an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he and Francis Crick co-authored an academic paper in Nature proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Maurice Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material".  After his death, The New York Times called Watson one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. The BBC noted that Watson's works "opened the door" to help explain how DNA replicates and carries genetic information while also "setting the stage for rapid advances in molecular biology". I was lucky enough to photograph him on three occasions during my time working at Newsday and this is one of my portraits of him.  On the wall behind him is his Nobel Prize certificate.

And in case you wondered wha the Nobel Prize looks like, here it is, cropped from the photograph up above.  Of course you receive a gold medal as well.