| Rita R. Colwell | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 23, 1934 Beverly, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | microbiology |
| Institutions | National Science Foundation |
| Alma mater | University of Washington |
Rita R. Colwell (born November 23, 1934 in Beverly, Massachusetts) is an environmental microbiologist and scientific administrator. She became the 11th Director of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) on August 4, 1998.
Dr. Colwell has an undergraduate degree in bacteriology and an M.S. in genetics from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Washington. She did a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa. In 2004, she received an honorary Sc.D. from Bates College, one of 48 honorary degrees she has been conferred with. She served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Microbiology. She is a member of the (US) National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, as well as the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (since 2003). As of 2008, she serves as President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
In 2004 Dr. Colwell left her position as Director of NSF to become the chief scientist at Canon U.S. Life Sciences, a division of Canon. As of 2008, she was the Chairman of Canon U.S. Life Sciences. She also returned to academic life as a Distinguished Professor at University of Maryland, College Park, as well as at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2006, Dr. Colwell received the National Medal of Science[1] from United States President George W. Bush. She was the 2008 Leonard Brockington Visitor to Queen's University.
She has authored or co-authored 17 books and more than 700 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film Invisible Seas.
She is a foreign fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences [2]
She is the 2010 recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize for her contributions to solving water-related public health problems.[3]
| Preceded by Francisco J. Ayala |
President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1996 |
Succeeded by Jane Lubchenco |
| Preceded by Neal Lane |
Director of the National Science Foundation 1998-2004 |
Succeeded by Arden L. Bement Jr. |