Nobel Prize winner Michael Smith was a professor of Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia and director of UBC’s Biotechnology Laboratory. Born and educated in England, he was with UBC since 1966.

Michael Smith served as scientific leader of the UBC-based Protein Engineering Network Centre of Excellence, part of the federal program created to encourage scientific research. The genetic process he pioneered has opened doors for researchers in laboratories around the world, leading to discoveries in a whole range of initiatives. His techniques are being used to help wage molecular warfare on cancer cells, to try to create faster-growing crops and to engineer synthetic blood products.

Despite his impressive achievements, his admirers note that he was open, approachable and generous with his time, talent and knowledge. He believed scientists have a responsibility to explain what they’re doing and why it matters, in terms we can all understand.

Michael Smith put his $500,000 Nobel prize money into an endowment fund for outreach programs to boost awareness of science and for research into schizophrenia.

Through his life’s work Michael Smith distinguished both himself and B.C.’s science and technology community.