Education
In 1952 he received his Doctor of Philosophy with his thesis "Vitamine C, Adrenal gland and Adaptation" and in 1955 he graduated as physician.
Pharmacologist university professor
In 1952 he received his Doctor of Philosophy with his thesis "Vitamine C, Adrenal gland and Adaptation" and in 1955 he graduated as physician.
Due to the necessity of hiding as a Jew during the Second World War, De Wied only started in 1947 studying medicine at the University of Groningen. In 1961 he was appointed professor of experimental endocrinology and from 1963 he served as director of the Rudolf Magnus Institute and professor of pharmacology in Utrecht. De Wied gained international esteem chiefly by his discovery of neuropeptides and their value to memory and learning.
The subject was made comprehensible to the public when the media coined the term "learning-pill" describing the effect of the discovery.
He was chairman of the KNAW department of physics from 1981 until 1984 and general president between 1984 and 1990. In 2011 the new faculty building of exact science of the University of Utrecht was named after David de Wied.
David de Wied received an honorary degree from Binghamton University.
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.