Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992

Personal Life and Education: Isaac Asimov was born in Russia in 1920 and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was three. Asimov grew up in New York City and attended public schools, then earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Columbia University. He applied to all five NYC medical schools and was rejected by all of them. He instead applied for the master's degree program in chemistry at Columbia, and was rejected again, but convinced the department to let him pursue his studies on probationary status, and finished his master's degree in 1941. He spent the next four years in the army. After being honorably discharged he returned to his studies, and finished his Ph.D in chemistry at Columbia in 1948. He spent a year in a post-doctoral position at Columbia researching compounds to fight malaria, then accepted a faculty position at Boston University. He stopped teaching and gave up his salary in 1958 to write full-time. Boston University elevated him to the rank of full professor in 1979. He died in 1992 at the age of 72.

Works: Asimov wrote more than 400 books, spread across numerous fiction and non-fiction genres. He is best known for his science fiction, particularly I, Robot and The Foundation Trilogy. He is considered one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century, having contributed significantly to advancing the genre both in popularity and in literary prestige. He incorporated into his science fiction elements drawn from history, mathematics, sociology, and other sciences. Asimov's works also include mysteries, books on science written for general audiences, and works on classical literature, among numerous other subjects. He also wrote hundreds of articles and columns for the magazines Fantasy and Science Fiction and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction.

Source: Adapted from"C250 Celebrates Columbians Ahead of their Time" (accessed in 2019) c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/Isaac_asimov.html