Barbara Anna Schaal (born 1947 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, naturalized in 1956)

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

evolutionary biologist Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life for ...

, is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

and vice president of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. She is the first woman to be elected vice president of the Academy. Since April 2009, Schaal has served on the

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered (or re-chartered) in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST w ...

(PCAST).

Education

Schaal grew up in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, graduated from the

University of Illinois, Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

with a degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, and received a doctorate from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1974.

Area of expertise

Schaal is best known for her work on the

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

of plant species. She is known particularly well for her studies that use molecular genetic data to understand evolutionary processes such as

gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent a ...

, geographical differentiation, and the

domestication Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. ...

of crop species.

Career

Schaal was on the faculty of the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

and

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

before joining Washington University in 1980, where she has served as chair of the biology department. In 2009, Schaal was named the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University. She was formerly the director of

Tyson Research Center Tyson Research Center is a environmental field station owned and operated by Washington University in St. Louis in the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area east of Eureka. It is part of the Henry Shaw Ozark Corridor which consists of over of pr ...

and has been president of the Botanical Society of America and president of the

Society for the Study of Evolution The Society for the Study of Evolution is a professional organization of evolutionary biologists. It was formed in the United States in 1946 to promote evolution and the integration of various fields of science concerned with evolution and to organ ...

. Schaal became Washington University’s dean of Arts & Sciences on January 1, 2013. In 2015 Schaal was elected as president of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and assumed the position in 2016. In her president's address at AAAS' 2017 annual meeting, held Feb. 16-20 in Boston, titled 'Science and Technology for the Public Good,' she discussed the value of science and told the audience of scientists, students, journalists and science communicators that 'it is our obligation as scientists and citizens to speak up for science … be a force for science. Schaal established both the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Faculty Leadership Award in 2014 as a way to recognize exceptional commitment to Arts & Sciences and its students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaal, Barbara A. 21st-century American biologists Evolutionary biologists 1947 births Living people American women biologists American women botanists Women evolutionary biologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Ohio State University faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty Botanical Society of America University of Illinois Chicago alumni Yale University alumni German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American botanists 21st-century American botanists 20th-century American biologists 21st-century biologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science