Email This PageRichard Setlow ’41
Richard Setlow ’41 was included in the 2009 edition of the Marquis Who’s Who in the World for his many accomplishments in the field of biophysics. Also, the senior biophysicist emeritus at Brookhaven National Laboratory, was honored for 35 years of service to the organization. Early in his career, Setlow taught physics and biophysics at Yale and did research with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he discovered the biological damage resulting from ultraviolet light-induced DNA defects. At Brookhaven, he expanded upon this research with the discovery that both UVA and UVB rays cause malignant melanoma (previously, only short ultraviolet light wavelengths were believed to be harmful). A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Setlow has received awards from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Comité International de Photobiologie, and the Environmental Mutagen Society, among others. Arthur Grollman, founding chair of the Pharmacology Department at Stony Brook University said of the scientist who has mentored many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, “While Setlow is known for ‘great science,’ he has done even greater things by passing on his knowledge and wisdom to the next generation.”
