Alfred Day Hershey was born on December 4th, 1908, in Owosso, Michigan. He studied at the Michigan State College, where he obtained B.S. in 1930, and Ph.D. in 1934. In 1967 he got an honorary D.Sc. at the University of Chicago.

From 1934 till 1950 he was engaged in teaching and research, at the Department of Bacteriology, Washington University School of Medicine. In 1950 he became a Staff Member, at the Department of Genetics, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cold Spring Harbor, New York; in 1962 he was appointed Director of the Genetics Research Unit of the same institution.

Alfred Hershey married Harriet Davidson in 1945, they have one son, Peter.

Alfred Hershey is a Member of the American Society for Microbiology, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Hershey is Recipient of the Kimber Genetics Award of the National Academy of Sciences, 1965. Michigan State University honored him with an M.D.h.c. in 1970.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

Alfred D. Hershey died on May 22, 1997.