Gene D. Block
| Gene D. Block | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
August 17, 1948 Monticello, New York |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Fields |
Biology, College Administration |
| Alma mater |
Stanford University University of Oregon |
Gene David Block (born August 17, 1948) is an American biologist, academic, inventor, and chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles. He attended Stanford University for his BA, and subsequently received his MS and PhD in psychology from the University of Oregon in 1975. Block was then provost and professor of biology at the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia, Block interacted with Randy Pausch and is mentioned in his memoir, The Last Lecture.
Before becoming chancellor of UCLA, Block had an extensive scientific career. His early work with mollusks investigated the structure and function of basal retinal neurons (BRN) in circadian photoentrainment. He was the first to discover a cell-autonomous circadian pacemaker and concluded that BRNs are both necessary and sufficient for photoentrainment. Later in his career, Block explored the molecular basis of circadian rhythms in mammals, and found that calcium flux was necessary for circadian rhythmicity. His most recent research, which he is still working on today, is largely focused on the effect that aging has on the circadian clock.
Block was born in Monticello, New York, the grandson of Eastern European immigrants. His father and uncle owned Mountain Dairies, a retail/wholesale distributor that served many of the hotels and camps that populated the Catskill region of New York. During high school summers he worked at the dairy as a truck driver, starting his days at 4am for early morning deliveries to summer camps and hotels. He also played piano in a trio that provided dance music for Saturday evening parties at several bungalow colonies within the "Borscht Belt". His hobbies included electronics and shortwave radio. He played varsity tennis at Monticello High School. He is Jewish.
Block received the BA from Stanford University in 1970, followed by the MS and PhD in 1972 and 1975, respectively, from the University of Oregon; all of these degrees were in psychology. From 1975-1978, he returned to Stanford for postdoctoral work with Donald Kennedy, who later became president of Stanford, and Colin Pittendrigh, who is known as the “father of biological timing. During this time Block studied how voluntary movements inhibit sensory feedback in the crayfish working in the Kennedy lab while studying issues of circadian biology with Colin Pittendrigh.
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