Dr. Rita R. ColwellChairman,
Canon US Life Sciences, Inc.
Distinguished Professor,
University of Maryland College Park and Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health
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Dr. Rita
Colwell is Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. and Distinguished University Professor
both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins
University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water,
and health, and she is currently developing an international network to
address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe
drinking water for both the developed and developing world. Dr.
Colwell served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation,
1998-2004. In her capacity as
NSF Director, she served as Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the
National Science and Technology Council. One of her major interests include K-12 science and
mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education and the increased
participation of women and minorities in science and engineering. Dr.
Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. Government, nonprofit
science policy organizations, and private foundations, as well as in the
international scientific research community. She is a nationally-respected
scientist and educator, and has authored or co-authored 16 books and more
than 700 scientific publications.
She produced the award-winning film, Invisible Seas, and has served on
editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. Before
going to NSF, Dr. Colwell was President of the University of Maryland
Biotechnology Institute and Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at
the University Maryland. She was
also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990. Dr.
Colwell has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the
American Academy of Microbiology and also as President of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington Academy of
Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National
Science Honorary Society, and the International Union of Microbiological
Societies. Dr. Colwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Dr.
Colwell has also been awarded 40 honorary degrees from institutions of higher
education, including her Alma Mater, Purdue University. Dr. Colwell is an
honorary member of the microbiological societies of the UK, France, Israel,
Bangladesh, and the U.S. and has held several honorary professorships,
including the University of Queensland, Australia. A geological site in Antarctica, Colwell Massif, has been
named in recognition of her work in the polar regions. Born in
Beverly, Massachusetts, Dr. Colwell holds a B.S. in Bacteriology and an M.S.
in Genetics,
from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington. |