Rita R. Colwell

Rita R. Colwell
Rita R. Colwell in 2011.
Born	November 23, 1934 Beverly, Massachusetts
Nationality	United States
Fields	microbiology
Institutions	National Science Foundation
Alma mater	University of Washington

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. In 2004, she received an honorary Sc.D. from Bates College, one of 55 honorary degrees she has been conferred with, including an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1987.

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 Sciencesand 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 in the cell biology and molecular genetics department, 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 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

She is the 2010 recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize for her contributions to solving water-related public health problems. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a prominent think tank based in New York City.

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)

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.