University of Utah honors renowned chemist Henry Eyring for his love of God, love of people, love of chemistry
The statue is located in the atrium of the Henry Eyring Chemistry Building, named for the chemist himself.
During the unveiling, Eyring's son, President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke, highlighting not just who his father was as a chemist but as a person.
Eyring was a faithful member of the Church for his whole life and his son shared that he was someone who loved God, loved people and loved chemistry.
'He saw himself as a person whose main purpose was to help people, that that's what God would want him to do,' President Eyring said.
The statue was provided by Khosrow Semnani, a philanthropist who said he saw this statue as a way for him to do something for Eyring who had a major impact on him and was a guiding light in his life.
'He was a very kind man in many ways,' Semnani added. 'He never stopped promoting kindness.'
The statue shows Eyring sitting on a stool, holding a model of a molecule and smiling as if he was teaching a class.
'That smile is the smile he always had when he taught about chemistry and he was trying to lift people,' President Eyring said.
It was sculpted by Mark Degraffenried and was created through the Metal Arts Foundry.
Other speakers at the event included Peter Armentrout, interim chair of the university's chemistry department, and university President Taylor Randall. Also present at the event were former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Elder Dale G. Renlund of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Eyring was a trailblazing theoretical chemist who wrote over 600 scientific papers and 10 volumes. His research on chemical kinetics helped build a foundation for the modern day understandings of chemical reactions.
'Dr. Eyring's contributions to theoretical chemistry have fundamentally shaped our understanding of chemical kinetics, and I know that for a fact, because I do chemical kinetics and I use some of his principles all the time,' Armentrout said.
His works included seminal research on the theory of liquids, optical rotation, rate processes in biology and medicine, aging and cancer, anaethesiology and other areas.
He developed the absolute rate theory, known as the Eyring equation. Eyring also was presented with National Medal of Science in 1966 by Lyndon B. Johnson and received the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1980.
He served as dean of the U. Graduate School and a professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy at the University of Utah from 1946 until his death in 1981, at age 80.
During his life he was also nominated for a Nobel Prize multiple times.
Randall pointed out that the university is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year and said that Eyring's time at the school is a great inflection point of the university's history.
'Beyond these scientific achievements, he was also known for his passion for education, his infectious enthusiasm for discovery of all sorts, and his unique ability to bridge the realms of science and profound philosophical thought,' Armentrout said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scientific American
2 days ago
- Scientific American
—Have Weathered Attacks Before and Won
Worth recalling in this anniversary year, one of Scientific American 's proudest moments came in a past era of attacks on science. The lesson—that speaking out for science is worth the criticism it brings—is surely worth recalling today. The year was 1950, and the 'red scare' was fully underway, alongside a nascent arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet demonstration of an atomic bomb in 1949 had galvanized calls for a bigger bomb, a hydrogen bomb, in the U.S., sparking the paranoia today best remembered for claiming the career of Manhattan Project chief J. Robert Oppenheimer. But a war on scientists not toeing the political line was in full swing then, and Scientific American was in the thick of it. On March 20, 1950, a U.S. Atomic Energy Commission agent named Alvin F. Ryan seized and burned 3,000 copies of the forthcoming April issue of Scientific American, which the commission claimed held atomic secrets. Ryan also supervised the melting of four printing plates holding a feature story in the issue, ' The Hydrogen Bomb: II,' that contained the supposedly objectionable information within one of its columns. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. 'Strict compliance with the commission's policies would mean that we could not teach physics,' said an outraged Gerard Piel, then publisher of Scientific American, in the April 1, 1950, report of the seizure on the front page of the New York Times. He threatened to take further censorship to the Supreme Court. Piel had relaunched Scientific American in 1948, with a focus on bringing the views of scientists like Bethe, thoughtfully edited, to the public. This scientists-as-writers approach came about by happenstance, Scientific American editor Gary Stix found while researching the history of the magazine. Piel found it was cheaper to pay scientists to write copy and then rewrite it, rather than hire magazine writers. The approach proved so successful, with the public then clamoring to hear the news straight from scientists, that the magazine had 100,000 readers and 133 pages of advertising by 1950. Berthe's article was just one of four published by the magazine on the H-bomb, which President Harry Truman had decided to pursue in January of 1950. Much debate, among scientists and the public, followed over whether such a weapon would make the U.S. safer or endanger humanity. The Nobel Prize–winning discoverer of how fusion in stars baked elements, Bethe, was in the latter camp. His article went through the physics of fusion and pled to 'save humanity from this ultimate disaster' by reconsidering the president's H-bomb decision, or at least pledging no first use of the weapons in warfare, a commitment still unmade, and widely debated in nuclear circles. 'Piel had made his publication an important forum for critical analysis of U.S. science policy during the coldest years of the cold war,' in exposing the Atomic Energy Commission's attack on press freedom, wrote history professor Alfred W. McCoy. To satisfy the AEC, Bethe made four 'ritual' cuts to the final version of the article and published it. Even so, U.S. security officials continued to pressure scientists and the press over the course of the red scare. The FBI searched Bethe's luggage after a European trip in 1951. ' Scientific American runs to the sort of stuff which the Soviets would like to see in a popular science journal,' claimed an AEC memorandum that same year. The U.S. tested its first H-bomb a year later, and stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance, in 1954, in a power play now seen as a political vendetta. The arms race played out through the 1960s, building stockpiles of tens of thousands of nuclear missiles on both sides until its folly, and frightening close brushes with Armageddon, lowered those numbers in an era of détente, the sort of world that Bethe had called for in his article. All the while, Scientific American stood for the importance of scientists speaking out, and providing the public, even amid the unhinged persecution of the red scare, choices for a better world. Throughout science, the lesson stood, among eminent voices ranging from Linus Pauling to Carl Sagan. Scientists led calls for test ban treaties and disarmament; they warned of nuclear winter throughout the cold war. In the magazine, former CIA official Herbert Scoville Jr. warned of the danger of a new generation of U.S. submarines as 'first-strike' weapons, that familiar warning, in 1972. Bethe himself kept speaking out, against the Reagan administration's 'Star Wars' missile defense plan as unworkable, costly and destabilizing in the 1980s (views heard today on its current 'Golden Dome' revival). Accepting the Einstein Peace Prize in 1992, he acknowledged that while scientists had not ended the cold war, they had succeeded in 'planting the idea there was an alternative to the arms race.' Their example, and that idea, remains as important as ever, especially with U.S. science facing severe cuts, and nuclear weapons a renewed flashpoint in geopolitics. Piel's statement released after the 1950 seizure—'there is a very large body of technical information in the public domain which is essential to adequate public participation in the development of national policy and on which the American people are entitled to be informed'—still stands true today at this magazine. We will continue to speak out and provide scientists with a place to make their voices heard.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Gizmodo
Hibernation's Hidden Healing ‘Superpowers' Could Be Locked in Our DNA
After spending months without eating, drinking, or moving, hibernating mammals must rebound from extreme physiological changes. Two new studies suggest that the genetic 'superpowers' underlying this incredible resilience may also be present in the human genome. For these studies, published Thursday, July 31, in the journal Science, researchers at the University of Utah honed in on the specific DNA regions that help hibernators rapidly recover from muscle atrophy, insulin resistance, and brain damage. They found strong evidence to suggest that the human genome shares these genetic regions, which function as control switches for hibernator adaptations. Finding and harnessing them could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and other disorders, the researchers say. 'Humans already have the genetic framework,' said Susan Steinwand, a neurobiology and anatomy researcher at U of U Health and first author of one of the studies. 'We just need to identify the control switches for these hibernator traits.' During hibernation, mammals enter a state of torpor, or physiological dormancy. This allows them to survive months without food and water, but at great cost to their health. Their muscles deteriorate due to lack of nutrition and movement, Christopher Gregg, a professor of neurobiology at U of U and senior author on both studies, told Gizmodo. Proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease build up in their brains, and upon awakening, the sudden reperfusion of blood can cause further neurological damage, he explained. What's more, they become insulin resistant due to the amount of fat they gain to sustain them during months of starvation. Hibernating mammals have evolved remarkable adaptations to reverse this extensive physiological damage. The genes that underlie these adaptations are likely also present in humans and other non-hibernators, Gregg explained. The fact that hibernation has evolved independently in multiple animal species suggests that its basic genetic ingredients are present across the mammalian genome. Therefore, non-hibernators may still carry them. 'We mostly all have the same genes across species,' Gregg said. 'The big change is in the 98% of the genome that does not encode for genes.' Non-coding DNA is largely responsible for gene regulation. In hibernators, specific regions of non-coding DNA act as 'master switches' for controlling functional gene responses to starvation and refeeding, he explained. Finding these master switches in the mammalian genome is like searching for needles in a DNA haystack. To accomplish this, the researchers made whole-genome comparisons across mammals to identify conserved DNA regions that are stable in most species but show accelerated change in hibernators. These hibernator-accelerated regions are regulators that turn genes on in specific cells at specific times, Elliott Ferris, a data analyst in Gregg's lab at U of U and first author of one of the studies, told Gizmodo. To understand the biological processes that may be linked to these hibernator-accelerated regions, the researchers identified genes that get turned up or turned down during fasting in mice. Hibernation is an adaptation to survive food scarcity, so fasting triggers similar metabolic changes. This led them to 'hub genes' that act as master regulators for fasting-induced changes to gene activity. 'The really surprising discovery that was very exciting was that the hibernation-linked elements are disproportionately affecting those key hub genes,' Gregg explained. 'The implication is that hibernators changed the regulation and activity of these core hub genes to have big downstream effects on the whole program for responding to food scarcity and food deprivation. That's important as we think about translating this knowledge into the real world.' Gregg is co-founder of Primordial AI, a Utah-based biotech startup that leverages AI to uncover master regulator gene drug targets. Through this company, he aims to develop drugs that mimic the genetic advantages hibernators have, such as boosting neuroprotection in Alzheimer's patients or reversing insulin resistance in type 2 diabetics. 'Those hub genes are the ones that we think are a really good starting point to design medicines to affect those genes,' Gregg said.
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Newsweek
Hidden Human 'Superpowers' Could Help Fight Diabetes
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Hidden human 'superpowers' could one day help develop new treatments to reverse diabetes and neurodegeneration. This the conclusion of research from University of Utah that suggests hibernating animals' superpowers could lie dormant within our own DNA and could potentially be unlocked to improve our health. "We were fascinated by one big mystery: how do hibernating mammals completely rewire their metabolism—and then reverse it—without damaging their brains or bodies?" Chris Gregg, paper author and U of U Health neurobiology professor, told Newsweek. "They gain huge amounts of fat, become insulin resistant, shut down metabolism and body temperature for weeks or months... and then bounce back without the chronic diseases that plague humans under similar conditions. "That led us to a key idea: maybe the answers aren't in protein-coding genes, which are mostly shared across mammals, but in the noncoding regulatory elements—the parts of the genome that act like switches and dimmers for gene activity." The dangerous health changes hibernating animals can recover from are similar to those seen in type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. It appears humans have the genetic framework to do this, too, if we can figure out how to bypass some of our metabolic switches. A medical doctor using advanced DNA technology, looking at computer screens. A medical doctor using advanced DNA technology, looking at computer screens. AndreyPopov/Getty Images The researchers discovered that a gene cluster called the 'fat mass and obesity (FTO) locus' plays an important role in hibernators' abilities—and humans have these genes too. "What's striking about this region is that it is the strongest genetic risk factor for human obesity," Gregg said in a statement. But hibernators have been observed to be able to use genes in the FTO locus in new ways to their advantage. The team identified hibernator-specific DNA regions near the FTO locus that regulate the activity of neighboring genes, turning them up or down. The research team speculate that this process, including those in or near the FTO locus, allows hibernators to gain weight before settling in for winter. During hibernation, they slowly use these fat reserves for energy. The hibernator-specific regulatory regions outside of the FTO locus seem particularly crucial for tweaking metabolism. When the researchers mutated the hibernator-specific regions in mice, they saw changes in their weight and metabolism. Some mutations sped up or slowed down weight gain under specific dietary conditions, while others affected the ability to recover body temperature after a hibernation-like state or tuned overall metabolic rate up or down, according to the study. Instead of being genes themselves, the hibernator-specific DNA regions the researchers identified were in fact DNA sequences that contact nearby genes and turn their expression up or down, "fine-tuning" them. A hedgehog hibernating in a natural woodland habitat. A hedgehog hibernating in a natural woodland habitat. Callingcurlew23/Getty images "Our research reveals that hidden 'superpowers' from hibernating mammals may be linked to specific genetic elements that exist in human DNA—in the form of conserved, noncoding regulatory elements that control metabolism, brain health and resilience to stress," Gregg explained. "By comparing the genomes of hibernators and non-hibernators, we identified thousands of DNA elements that hibernators have lost or rewired—especially those regulating how the brain responds to fasting and recovery after fasting. When we deleted some of these elements in mice, they changed body weight, energy use, thermoregulation, and even age-related memory behaviors. "One big idea from the study for future testing is that humans have a stable internal body temperature and limited range for metabolic changes and physiological flexibility. The elements we uncovered may act as 'genomic brakes' that limit the range of biological responses to some stressors and hibernators inactivated these DNA elements to evolved expanded capabilities for biological flexibility and resilience." Understanding hibernators' metabolic flexibility could lead to better treatments for human metabolic disorders. However finding the genetic regions that may enable hibernation is no easy feat, with endless DNA to sift through. "What this means is that humans may have the capacity for some aspects of these adaptations, but we would need to unlock them," said Gregg. He explained that if we can understand how to reactivate or mimic these genetic programs, it could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity "by improving metabolic flexibility", Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases "via the activation of neuroprotective and regenerative gene programs" and stroke and injury recovery "by tapping into natural repair and neuroprotection". It could also potentially help with healthy aging and longevity. A medical device with a hand pointing to a blood sugar meter for diabetes. A medical device with a hand pointing to a blood sugar meter for diabetes. MarcelaTo narrow down the regions involved, the researchers used multiple independent whole-genome technologies to ask which regions might be relevant for hibernation, before looking for overlap between the results from each technique. For example, they looked for sequences of DNA that most mammals share but had recently changed rapidly in hibernators. They also found the genes that act as central coordinators or "hubs" of these fasting-induced changes to gene activity. They discovered that many of the DNA regions that had recently changed also appeared to interact with these central hubs. Hence, the researchers expect that the evolution of hibernation requires specific changes to the controls of the hub genes—helping to narrow down further the DNA elements that are worth further investigation. Crucially, most of the hibernator-associated changes in the genome appeared to "break" the function of specific pieces of DNA, rather than make new functions. This suggests hibernators may have lost constraints that would otherwise prevent extreme flexibility in the ability to control metabolism. "In essence, we're learning to unlock a dormant resilience code in the human genome, using lessons from species that have mastered the art of survival under extreme conditions. It is a big idea that needs much more work to be tested," said Gregg. He said their next areas of focus include testing their "genomic brakes" hypothesis further and exploring the hibernation hub genes and potentially developing them as novel drug targets that enable them to develop medicines that promote metabolic health and neuroprotection. They are also studying hibernation mechanisms in cancer cell evolution and treatment resistance. Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about diabetes? Let us know via health@ Reference Ferris, E., Gonzalez Murcia, J. D., Rodriguez, A. C., Steinwand, S., Stacher Hörndli, C., Traenkner, D., Maldonado-Catala, P. J., & Gregg, C. (2025). Genomic convergence in hibernating mammals elucidates the genetics of metabolic regulation in the hypothalamus. Science, 381(6663), 494–500. Steinwand, S., Stacher Hörndli, C., Ferris, E., Emery, J., Gonzalez Murcia, J. D., Rodriguez, A. C., Spotswood, R. J., Chaix, A., Thomas, A., Davey, C., & Gregg, C. (2025). Conserved noncoding cis elements associated with hibernation modulate metabolic and behavioral adaptations in mice. Science, 381(6663), 501–507.
