Rita R. Colwell

Rita R. Colwell
Rita R. Colwell in 2011.
Born	November 23, 1934 Beverly, Massachusetts
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	University of Washington
Scientific career
Fields	microbiology
Institutions	National Science Foundation, University of Maryland College Park, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Rita Rossi Colwell (born November 23, 1934 in Beverly, Massachusetts) is an environmental microbiologist and scientific administrator. From 1998 to 2004 she was the 11th Director of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF).

Career

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. She is the recipient of 61 honorary degrees, including Honorary Doctorates from the University of Notre Dame and the University of St Andrews in 2016.

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 Academies of Science of Sweden, Canada, Bangladesh, and India, in addition to the United States, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, as well as the Royal Society of Canada. She served as President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. She is currently (2016) chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine. She is also the Founding Editor of GeoHealth, a new journal of the American Geophysical Society (2016).

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. She is founder (2007) and Chairman of CosmosID, a bioinformatics company. In 2008, she was the Chairman of Canon U.S. Life Sciences. She also returned to academic life (2005) as a Distinguished Professor in the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, as well as at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2006, Dr. Colwell received the National Medal of Science from United States President George W. Bush. She was the 2008 Leonard Brockington Visitor to Queen's University.

She has authored or co-authored 19 books and more than 800 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film Invisible Seas.

She is recipient of the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize for her contributions to solving water-related public health problems and the 2006 Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star (Japan). She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a prominent think tank based in New York City.

Dr. Colwell is an honorary member of the microbiological societies of the UK, Australia, France, India, Israel, Bangladesh, Czechoslovakia, 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.

References

• "Rita Colwell". InterViews. National Academy of Sciences. 1999. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
• Brumfiel, Geoff (February 2004). "Colwell calls time on 'wonderful run' at NSF". Nature. 427 (6976). England: 665. doi:10.1038/427665a. PMID 14973444. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysource=, |laydate=, and |laysummary= (help)
• Mervis, Jeffrey (February 2004). "National Science Foundation. Colwell steps down, Bement named Acting Director". Science. 303 (5661). United States: 1116–7. doi:10.1126/science.303.5661.1116a. PMID 14976281. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysource=, |laydate=, and |laysummary= (help)
• Mervis, J (January 2001). "National Science Foundation. Transition rumor targets Colwell". Science. 291 (5504). United States: 572. doi:10.1126/science.291.5504.572A. PMID 11229394. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laysource=, |laydate=, and |laysummary= (help)

External links

• Interview with Colwell on the Marketing for Scientists blog
• Video clip from the International Conference on Complex Systems, hosted by the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI)