Thomas Dean Pollard (born July 7, 1942) is a prominent educator,

cell biologist Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

and

biophysicist Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study Biology, biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from Molecule, molecular to organismic ...

whose research focuses on understanding cell motility through the study of actin filaments and

myosin Myosins () are a superfamily of motor proteins best known for their roles in muscle contraction and in a wide range of other motility processes in eukaryotes. They are ATP-dependent and responsible for actin-based motility. The first myosin ...

motors. He is Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and a Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry at

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 ...

. He was Dean of Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2010 to 2014, and President of the

Salk Institute for Biological Studies The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vacci ...

from 1996 to 2001.

Education

He was educated at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

, receiving a B.A. degree in 1964. He then attended

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, graduating

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

in 1968. He then interned at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

and began his career as a physician.

Career

Following his internship, Pollard became a Staff Associate at the

National Heart and Lung Institute The Faculty of Medicine is the academic centre for medical and clinical research and teaching at Imperial College London. It contains the Imperial College School of Medicine, which is the college's undergraduate medical school. History Medica ...

. Soon after, he returned to Harvard, becoming an Assistant Professor of Anatomy in 1972, and advancing to Associate Professor in 1975. In 1977, Pollard was named Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

, where his laboratory discovered and characterized several important cellular proteins. In 1996, he left Hopkins to become the President of the

in La Jolla, CA, where he also maintained a highly productive research unit in the Structural Biology Laboratory. Additionally, Pollard served as an Adjunct Professor of Biology, of Bioengineering, and of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

. In 2001, Pollard began moving his laboratory to Yale, where he is currently the Sterling Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry. In 2010, President

Richard Levin Richard Charles Levin (born April 7, 1947) is an American economist and academic administrator. From 1993 to 2013, he was the 22nd President of Yale University. From March 2014 to June 2017, he was Chief Executive Officer of Coursera. Early lif ...

named Pollard Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale. Pollard has been very active in promoting scientific education and research primarily through two major societies, both of which he served as a past President: the

American Society for Cell Biology The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a professional society that was founded in 1960.Biophysical Society. Нe is a member of the Editorial Board for ''

Current Biology ''Current Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research articles, var ...

''. Pollard is a Fellow of the: *

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

(1990) *

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 ...

of the United States (1992) *

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 ...

(1993) *

American Academy of Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

(1997) * Biophysical Society (1999) *

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, E ...

(1999) *

American Society for Cell Biology The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a professional society that was founded in 1960.Rosenstiel Award The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research is awarded by Brandeis University. It was established in 1971 "as an expression of the conviction that educational institutions have an important role to play in the en ...

, Brandeis University (jointly with

James Spudich James A. Spudich () is an American scientist and professor. He is the Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor of Biochemistry and of Cardiovascular Disease at Stanford University and works on the molecular basis of muscle contraction. He was awar ...

in 1996) *Public Service Award, Biophysical Society (1997) *

E.B. Wilson Medal The E.B. Wilson Medal is the American Society for Cell Biology's highest honor for science and is presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for significant and far-reaching contributions to cell biology over the course of a career. It is name ...

, American Society for Cell Biology (2004) * Gairdner International Award in Biomedical Sciences (2006). *

NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing The NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "to recognize authors whose reviews have synthesized extensive and difficult material, rendering a significant service to science and influencing the cours ...

(2015) Along with co-authors William C. Earnshaw, PhD, FRSE; Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, PhD; and illustrator Graham Johnson, Pollard is the primary author of the textbook ''Cell Biology'' now in its second edition published by Saunders (2007). Numerous publications, teaching and public service awards, scientists mentored, and editorial boards served-on exemplify Pollard's tremendous contributions to the fields of education and cell biology.

Family

Thomas Pollard is married to Patricia Snowden and they have two children. Katherine Snowden Pollard is Director of the Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology and a Sloan Research Fellow at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

Daniel Avery Pollard
is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department of Western Washington University.

References

External links

Yale University, Pollard LaboratoryThe Gairdner Foundation, Thomas D. Pollard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Thomas D. 1942 births Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Yale University faculty Harvard Medical School alumni Living people Yale Sterling Professors Pomona College alumni Salk Institute for Biological Studies people Presidents of the Biophysical Society Members of the National Academy of Medicine