Walter Gilbert (born March 21, 1932) is an American physicist, biochemist, molecular biology pioneer, and Nobel laureate.

Biography
Gilbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 21, 1932. Gilbert was educated at the Sidwell Friends School, and attended Harvard University for undergraduate and graduate studies, earning a baccalaureate in chemistry and physics in 1953 and a master's degree in physics in 1954. Gilbert's doctoral studies were performed at the University of Cambridge, where he earned his Ph.D in Physics under the mentorship Nobel laureate Abdus Salam in 1957.

Gilbert returned to Harvard in 1956 and was appointed assistant professor of physics in 1959; in 1964 Gilbert was promoted to associate professor of biophysics and promoted again in 1968 to professor of biochemistry. In 1969, Gilbert was awarded Harvard's Ledlie Prize. In 1972, Gilbert was named American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology.

He is a co-founder of the biotech start-up companies Biogen and Myriad Genetics, and was the first chairman on their respective boards of directors. He is also a member of the Board of Scientific Governors at The Scripps Research Institute. Gilbert is currently the chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows.