Ludwig, Martha

A researcher and professor of biological chemistry. Ludwig joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1967, she chaired the Biophysics Research Division, 1986-1989, and initiated the Molecular Biophysics Training Program.

From the description of Martha Ludwig papers, 1974-2006. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 316797986

Martha Ludwig was born August 16, 1931, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. from Cornell University in 1952, her M.A. in Biochemistry from the University of California in 1955, and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Cornell Medical College in 1956. She held two post-doctoral positions, the first at Harvard University from 1956 until 1959 and again from 1962 to 1967, and the second at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1959 to1962.

Ludwig's time at the University of Chicago shaped her research concentration; specifically, her interactions with biophysicist Howard K. Schachman whose course in Biological Physics she took while a master's student. Biophysics became her area of focus and research. Early on, when studying the interactions of proteins, Ludwig used traditional methods of biochemistry involving protein purification and chromatography. When Ludwig returned to Harvard in 1962, she became interested in the new technology of x-ray crystallography which allowed three-dimensional modeling of structures. Her mentor at Harvard in 1962 was future Nobel laureate William Lipscomb. Ludwig was a part of Lipscomb's lab team that solved the structures of carboxypeptidase A. The characterization of the protein was among the earliest in the world to be identified using x-ray crystallography and the very first to be identified in the United States.

In 1967, Ludwig accepted a faculty position at the University of Michigan as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Biological Chemistry. Ludwig came to the University of Michigan to study flavodoxins under Vincent Massey. She also joined the interdisciplinary Biophysics Research Division as an Assistant Researcher. One year later, she obtained the titles of Associate Professor and Associate Researcher, respectively. Ludwig was made a full professor of Biochemistry and was granted tenure in 1975. She served as the chair of the Biophysics Research Division from 1986 to 1989.

Included among her many honors are appointments to the National Academy of Science in 2003 and to the Institute of Medicine in 2006. She received the Garvan Medal of the American Chemical Society in 1984, and the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1986. She was among the founding members of the Life Sciences Collaborative Access Team (LS-CAT) an academic and research collaborative effort to fund an advanced research facility for x-ray crystallography research in the state of Michigan. Ludwig's research centered on enzymes and their biomedical implications, specifically, dealing with those involving B12 and riboflavin.

Martha Ludwig passed away November 27, 2006, of complications from colon cancer. She was survived by her husband of 45 years Frederic Hoch a professor of Internal Medicine and Biological Chemistry.

From the guide to the Martha Ludwig papers, 1974-2006, 1988-2002, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)