Department Chair

While chair of the department, Anderson says, Knowles once organized a 70th birthday party at the Faculty Club for two chemistry professors.

Guests were invited to address the party--but only if they spoke in poetic form.

"Knowles led off the evening, and he was marvelous," Anderson says.

Colleagues and students also praise Knowles' teaching skills. Last year he taught Chemistry 171: "Molecular Enzymology" and part of Biochemistry 10a: "Introductory Biochemistry."

James E. Davis, the director of Harvard's biochemistry and molecular biology lab, describes Knowles as "a magnificent teacher, one of the best in the department."

Born in Rugby, England, Knowles attended Magdalen College School and then spent two years as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force. At Oxford University he took a B.A. with first class honors in 1959 and an M.A. and D.Phil. in 1961.

After serving as a research fellow and lecturer at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois, Knowles returned to Oxford to become a fellow of Wadham College from 1966 to 1974.

In the early 1970s, he was a visiting professor at Yale and then at Harvard University. He joined the Harvard Chemistry Department in 1974.

Knowles is married to Jane Sheldon Davis, a literary scholar. They have three children.

Associates say that Knowles is a gifted pianist who is particularly fond of Mozart.

This article was first printed in The Crimson on March 1, 1991.