Birgit Vennesland

Birgit Vennesland
Born	17 November 1913  Kristiansand
Died	15 October 2001  (aged 87)
Education	doctorate
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Occupation	Biochemist university teacher researcher
Awards	Garvan–Olin Medal (1964) honorary doctorate (1960, Mount Holyoke College)
Academic career
Institutions	University of Illinois College of Medicine Harvard University University of Chicago

Birgit Vennesland (17 November 1913 — 15 October 2001) was a Norwegian-American biochemist. Vennesland spent the majority of her career as an academic for the University of Chicago from 1941 to 1968. While at Chicago, she compared the enzymes that animals use during metabolism and to the enzymes used by plants in photosynthesis. After leaving Chicago for Germany, Vennesland was the director of the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology from 1968 to 1970. She later was the director of an eponymous research facility by the Max Planck Society from 1970 until her retirement in 1981. During her career, Vennesland received the Stephen Hales Prize from the American Society of Plant Biologists in 1950 and the Garvan-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society in 1964.