George M. Carman, Renowned Biochemist and Food Scientist, Named Rutgers Board of Governors Professor

A Rutgers faculty member since 1978, Carman is nationally known for his contribution to the understanding of the genes and enzymes responsible for the synthesis and metabolism of lipids. Lipids are energy-storing molecules – fats, waxes and fat-soluble vitamins – that play a vital role in the metabolism of plants and animals. He is the author of more than 170 articles in learned journals.

Carman founded the Center for Lipid Research in 2007 to bring together researchers throughout the university who were working on various aspects of lipids. By 2005 he knew that Rutgers had many researchers working on other aspects of lipids in other parts of the university and resolved to bring them together. After a series of conferences and ad-hoc joint efforts, the center was inaugurated on Dec. 3, 2007.

“George Carman is acclaimed and respected by food scientists and biochemists around the world for his insightful and original work,” said Richard L. McCormick, president of Rutgers University. “He has brought together researchers who literally might never have met without his help; he has taught hundreds of young people and mentored scores of young scientists.”

Carman earned his B.A. in 1972 from William Paterson College, his M.S. from Seton Hall University in 1974 and his Ph.D from the University of Massachusetts in 1977. Carman is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2008, he was named Faculty Mentor of the Year by the Compact for Faculty Diversity; he received the Research Excellence Award for Sustained Research and Impact from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in 2009. 

Carman received the National Institutes of Health MERIT Award in 2010, and in the coming year will be honored with the 2012 Avanti Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Chemical Biology. In 2004, Carman received the Supelco/Nicholas Pelick Research Award from the American Oil Chemists Society. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Media Contact: Ken Branson
732-932-7084, ext. 633
E-mail: kbranson@ur.rutgers.edu