Dr. Steitz is the Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Yale University. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1990. His research in the field of protein and nucleic acid X-ray crystallography, including his recent work with Dr. Moore on the 50S ribosome structure has had wide-ranging impact in the global scientific community. In 2001, Dr. Steitz together with Drs. Moore and Noller received the Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Sciences for their research on the ribosome.