Michael Potter (immunologist)

Dr. Potter in 2004

Michael Potter(February 27, 1924 – June 18, 2013) was an American physician and immunologist.He won thePaul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prizefor outstanding contributions to medical research in 1983, and theAlbert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Researchin 1984, for "his fundamental research in the genetics of immunoglobulin molecules and for paving the way for the development of hybridomas and monoclonal antibodies".

Potter was born February 27, 1924, inEast Orange, New Jerseyto Thomas Potter, a lawyer, and Mavis Potter. He did not enter school until the 4th grade. Potter was elected to theNational Academy of Sciencesin 1981.

Potter attendedPrinceton Universityfor his undergraduates study, graduating in 1945. He received his medical degree from theUniversity of Virginiain 1949. He did his residency at UVA, and was drafted into the war as an army officer in 1951.

In 1954, he joined theNational Cancer Institute,where he became an expert inplasma cellcancers, and was involved in the early characterization of the structure and function of antibodies.He worked at NCI for nearly sixty years, serving as a section chief in the Laboratory of Cell Biology, as a branch chief in the Laboratory of Genetics from 1982 to 2003, and as a senior investigator from 2003 until his retirement.

Potter met his wife Jeanne Ann Phalen, a nursing student at the University of Virginia. They had two children; Michael and Melissa.