Linus Carl Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 28, 1901. His education was delayed because of financial responsibility for his mother and younger siblings (his father died when he was 9). In 1925 he received his Ph.D. in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where he served on the faculty until 1964. In 1969, Dr. Pauling became Research Professor, then president, at Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine, Menlo Park, California.

Dr. Pauling has been deeply concerned with the alleviation of human suffering and has taken some unpopular positions. For example, he was against cigarette smoking, war, nuclear weapons, and allowing preventable hereditary diseases in humans to continue.

His achievements in science, medicine, and human welfare have brought him many honorary degrees and awards, including the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962.

He has published more than 400 papers and books including General Chemistry, The Architecture of Molecules (with Roger Hayward), and No More War!

--Lloyd Kumley
The Humanist of the Year Book 1953-1991