Sydney Brenner Height, Weight, Age, Education, Family

Sydney Brenner Quick Info
Height	5 ft 8 in
Weight	68 kg
Date of Birth	January 13, 1927
Zodiac Sign	Capricorn
Date of Death	April 5, 2019

Sydney Brenner was a South African biologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with H. Robert Horvitz and Sir John E. Sulston in 2002. Known for his contributions to the research work on genetic code, he also received numerous other awards and honors such as the William Bate Hardy Prize in 1969, Albert Lasker Medical Research Award in 1971, Royal Medal from the Royal Society in 1974, Gairdner Foundation International Award in both 1978 and 1991, Krebs Medal in 1980, Novartis Medal and Prize of the Biochemical Society in 1980, Rosenstiel Award in 1986, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1986, Harvey Prize in 1987, Genetics Society of America Medal in 1987, Kyoto Prize in 1990, Copley Medal in 1991, King Faisal International Prize in Medicine in 1992, Dan David Prize in 2002, March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2002, and Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 2017.

Born Name

Sydney Brenner

Nick Name

Uncle Syd

Sydney Brenner as seen while speaking at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in December 2008 (OIST / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 DEED)

Age

He was born on January 13, 1927.

Died

On April 5, 2019, he died at the age of 92 in Singapore.

Sun Sign

Capricorn

Born Place

Germiston, Transvaal, South Africa

Residence

Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom

Nationality

 

Education

Sydney Brenner studied at Germiston High School, a South African English-medium government school based in Germiston. After that, he attended the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (commonly known as Wits University or Wits).

He was 15 years old when he started his university education and it was noted during his 2nd year that he would be too young to qualify for the practice of medicine at the conclusion of his six-year medical course. So, he was allowed to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy and Physiology. Also, he was taught physical chemistry by Joel Mandelstam, microscopy by Alfred Oettle, and neurology with Harold Daitz. With Raymond Dart and Robert Broom, he received an introduction to anthropology and paleontology as well.

He went on to receive the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh) in 1951. He also received an 1851 Exhibition Scholarship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and it enabled him to complete a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree at the University of Oxford as a postgraduate student of Exeter College, Oxford, supervised by Cyril Hinshelwood.

Occupation

Biologist

Family

• Father – Morris Brenner (Cobler)
• Mother – Leah (née Blecher)
• Siblings – Phyllis (Sister)

Build

Average

From Left to Right – E. Lederberg, G. Stent, Sydney Brenner, and J. Lederberg as seen in 1965 (Shadow600 / English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)

Height

5 ft 8 in or 173 cm

Weight

68 kg or 150 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

Sydney Brenner dated –

May Covitz (1952-2010)​ – He got married to May Covitz in the year 1952 and they remained together until her death in 2010. They had 3 children together – two daughters named Belinda and Carla and a son named Stefan. He was also the stepfather of Jonathan Balkind (May’s son from her first marriage to Marcus Balkind).

Race / Ethnicity

White

Hair Color

Salt and Pepper

Eye Color

Blue

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

Thin lips

Religion

Atheism

Sydney Brenner as seen at a 2011 symposium at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 DEED)

Sydney Brenner Facts

His parents were Jewish immigrants.

During his student years, he once supported himself by working as a laboratory technician.

In 1996, Sydney Brenner founded the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley, California.

He became the president of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in August 2005.

He was also associated with the Salk Institute, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, the Singapore Biomedical Research Council, the Janelia Farm Research Campus, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Biologist and historian Errol Friedberg wrote a scientific biography of Brenner in the United States for publication by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in 2010.

Sydney Brenner once said, “I’m a strong believer that ignorance is important in science. If you know too much, you start seeing why things won’t work. That’s why it’s important to change your field to collect more ignorance.”

Featured Image by OIST / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 DEED