R. Timothy Hunt

Sir Tim Hunt
Tim Hunt at UCSF in May 2009
Born	Richard Timothy Hunt (1943-02-19) 19 February 1943 (age 74) Neston, Cheshire, England
Residence	England
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Fields	Cell cycle
Institutions	London Research Institute University College London Imperial Cancer Research Fund University of Cambridge Marine Biological Laboratory Francis Crick Institute
Alma mater	Dragon School Magdalen College School, Oxford University of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Thesis	The synthesis of haemoglobin (1969)
Doctoral advisor	Asher Korner
Doctoral students	Matthew Cockerill Hugh Pelham Jonathon Pines
Known for	Cell cycle regulation
Notable awards	EMBO Member (1978) FRS (1991) FMedSci (1998) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2001) HonFRSE (2003) Royal Medal (2006) Knight Bachelor (2006)
Spouse	Mary Collins (m. 1995)
Children	Two daughters
Website www.crick.ac.uk/research/a-z-researchers/emeritus-scientists/tim-hunt/

Sir Richard Timothy Hunt, FRS, FMedSci, FRSE (born 19 February 1943) is a British biochemist and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H. Hartwell for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells. In particular, Hunt discovered what he called cyclin: a protein in fertilised sea urchin eggs which cyclically aggregates and is depleted during cell division cycles.

Hunt was born on 19 February 1943 in Neston, Cheshire, to Richard William Hunt, a lecturer in palaeography in Liverpool, and Kit Rowland, daughter of a timber merchant. After the death of both his parents, Hunt found his father had worked at Bush House, then the headquarters of BBC World Service radio, most likely in intelligence, although it is not known what he actually did. In 1945, Richard became Keeper of the Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library, and the family relocated to Oxford. At the age of eight, Hunt was accepted into the Dragon School, where he first developed an interest in biology thanks to his German teacher, Gerd Sommerhoff. When he was fourteen, he moved to Magdalen College School, Oxford, where the science prizes now bear his name, becoming even more interested in science and studying subjects such as chemistry and zoology.