Editing Thomas Cech (section)

==Early life and career==
Cech was born to parents of [[Czechs|Czech]] origin (his grandfather was Czech, his other grandparents were first-generation Americans) in [[Chicago]]. He grew up in [[Iowa City, Iowa]]. In junior high school, he knocked on the doors of [[geology]] professors at the [[University of Iowa]], and asked them to discuss [[crystal structures]], [[meteorites]] and [[fossils]].<ref name="nobel-bio">{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1989/cech/biographical/ |access-date=2025-04-11
|title=Thomas R. Cech – Biographical |website=Nobelprize.org |date=1989}}
</ref>


A [[National Merit Scholarship Program|National Merit Scholar]], Cech entered [[Grinnell College]] in 1966. There he studied [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', [[Dante]]'s [[Inferno (Dante)|''Inferno'']], [[constitutional history]] and [[chemistry]]. He married his [[organic chemistry]] lab partner, Carol Lynn Martinson, and graduated with a B.A. in 1970.<ref name="nobel-bio"/>

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In 1975, Cech completed his PhD in chemistry at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and in the same year, he entered the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] where he engaged in postdoctoral research.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor THOMAS ROBERT CECH |url=https://cuni.cz/UK-1138.html |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Univerzita Karlova |language=}}</ref> In 1978, he obtained his first faculty position at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]] where he lectured undergraduate students in chemistry and [[biochemistry]], and where he remains on the faculty, currently as distinguished professor in the department of biochemistry. In 2000, Cech succeeded [[Purnell Choppin]] as president of the [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]] in [[Maryland]]. He also continued to head his biochemistry laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder. On April 1, 2008, Cech announced that he would step down as the president of [[HHMI]], to return to teaching and research, in spring 2009.<ref>[http://www.hhmi.org/news/cech20080401.html HHMI News: Thomas R. Cech to Step Down as HHMI President]. Hhmi.org (2008-04-01). Retrieved on 2013-10-22.</ref> Returning to Boulder, Cech became the first executive director of the BioFrontiers Institute, a position he held until 2020. He also taught general chemistry to freshmen.

Cech is the author of ''The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets'', published in June 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cech |first=Thomas |date=2024-05-29 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Long-Overlooked Molecule That Will Define a Generation of Science |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/opinion/dna-rna-modern-science.html |access-date=2024-05-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>