Stahl, Franklin William

AbstractThis article highlights Stahl's role as a leading expert on the central biological process of ‘genetic recombination’ (Stahl, 1987, 1988) during the last six decades as his main research interest, as well as his collaborations indeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)replication, mutagenesis and genetic mapping. Starting with Stahl's PhD thesis (Stahl, 1956) on the genetic recombination of phage T4, and continuing with Stahl's seminal collaboration on the ‘Meselson–Stahl experiment’ which established how DNA replicates, a discovery for which both Meselson and Stahl remain best known, the article grounds Stahl's various contributions to molecular biology in his institutional legacies at the University of Rochester (PhD 1955), Caltech in the mid‐ and late 1950s and the University of Oregon at Eugene since 1959. The article further highlights Stahl's role as a foundation member of its Institute of Molecular Biology, his long‐term collaboration with his late spouse Mary Morgan Stahl (1934–1996), his mentorship of two generations of students and his current collaboration, as a professor emeritus, with his former PhD student and partner Henriette (Jette) Foss. Stahl's contributions to the history of molecular biology, as both author and editor, are also mentioned.