Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD’77, The University of Texas at Dallas’ first Nobel Prize-winning alumnus, presented a gold-plated bronze replica of his Nobel medallion to his alma mater during a campus visit in March.
Sancar, who earned his PhD in molecular and cell biology in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, is one of three scientists who received the 2015 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work detailing how cells continuously monitor and repair damaged DNA on a molecular level. He currently is the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Sancar and UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson unveiled the medallion in a glass case in Texas Instruments Inspiration Hall, the main thoroughfare of the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center.
Benson said he is grateful to have a symbol of Sancar’s achievements on display at UT Dallas.
“We are just ecstatic about this,” said Benson, the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. “This will be a tremendous inspiration. Countless numbers of students will see this, and I hope they will be inspired.”
Sancar donated his original 23 karat-gold Nobel Prize medal to his native country to be displayed at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye and the country’s first president. He obtained three replica medallions, which he decided to give to his high school in Mardin Province in Türkiye; to the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree; and to UTD.
“I’m really happy that I get to bring this to UTD and pay a debt of gratitude to this university where I did the initial work that eventually led to the Nobel Prize,” said Sancar, who received UT Dallas’ Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2009 and the University’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. “This is the last place that I got a degree. It is important to have [this medal] somewhere visible to students to give them inspiration and encouragement.”