Edward Kravitz

Edward Kravitz
Edward Kravitz
Born	December 19, 1932; New York City, U.S.
Died	September 21, 2025 (aged 92)
Alma mater	University of Michigan (PhD); City College of New York (BS)
Known for	Identification of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a neurotransmitter
Awards	American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1976); National Academy of Sciences (1984); National Academy of Medicine (1986); Humboldt Research Award (1992); Guggenheim Fellowship (1992);
	Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience
Institutions	Harvard Medical School; National Institute of Health
Thesis	A Directing Effect Of Inorganic Phosphate On The Pathways Of Hexose Phosphate Metabolism (1959)
Doctoral advisor	Armand Guarino
Doctoral students	Margaret Livingstone; Thomas Schwarz

Edward Arthur Kravitz (December 19, 1932 – September 21, 2025) was an American neuroscientist and George Packer Berry Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. He is widely recognized for demonstrating that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) functions as a neurotransmitter. He and Antony Stretton were the first to use the intracellular dye procion yellow to visualize neuronal architecture. Kravitz's work with neuroamines demonstrated that serotonin and octopamine act as synaptic modulators. Kravitz continued to explore the function of amines in aggression using Homarus americanus, the American lobster, and Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, as model organisms.