Robert Joseph Lefkowitz  is an American physician and biochemist. Dr. Lefkowitz was born on April 15, 1943 in New York City. He was an undergraduate at Columbia College from which hereceived a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1962. He graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1966 with an M.D. Degree. After serving an internship and one year of general medical residency at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, he served as a Clinical and Research Associate at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 1970. Lefkowitz was the recipient of several other major awards, including the 2007 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine and the 2007 National Medal of Science, presented to him by U.S. Pres. George W. Bush. In 1988 Lefkowitz was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.