Nina Vsevolod Fedoroff (born April 9, 1942) is an American molecular biologist known for her research in life sciences and

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

, especially

transposable element A transposable element (TE, transposon, or jumping gene) is a nucleic acid sequence in DNA that can change its position within a genome, sometimes creating or reversing mutations and altering the cell's genetic identity and genome size. Transp ...

s or jumping genes. and plant stress response.Elder, Andy (Fall 2002
Faces of Penn State, 2002: Nina Fedoroff
Pennsylvania State University, PennState Eberly College of Science, Retrieved 14 May 2012 In 2007, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

awarded her the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

, she is also a member of the

United States 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 ...

, 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, a ...

, the European Academy of Sciences, and the

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 ...

Early Days

Fedoroff, whose father was a Russian immigrant to the US and her mother a first generation immigrant, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her first language was Russian.Nina Fedoroff, Class of 1960, Inducted in 2009
Fayette-Manlius Schools Hall of Distinction Inductees, Retrieved 2 March 2014 When she was nine years old her family moved to

Fayetteville, New York Fayetteville is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the village had a population of 4,225. The village is named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a national hero of both France and the United St ...

, a suburb of the city of Syracuse. She then relocated to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

where she planned to study music but returned to study science at Syracuse University. She graduated summa cum laude in 1966 from Syracuse University with a dual major in biology and chemistry. She received her PhD in molecular biology 1972 from

The Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classified ...

Research career

After graduating from Rockefeller University in 1972 she joined the faculty of the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

, where she did research into nuclear RNA. She moved in 1978 to the

Carnegie Institution for Science The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...

in Baltimore, Maryland, worked on developmental biology at the Department of Embryology, where she pioneered DNA sequencing and worked out the nucleotide sequence of the first complete gene. In 1978, she also joined the faculty of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Biology Department, where she worked on the molecular characterization of maize

s or jumping genes, for which Barbara McClintock was awarded a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in 1983.

Academic positions

In 1995, Fedoroff arrived at Pennsylvania State University as the Verne M. Willaman professor of Life Sciences and founded and directed the organization now known as the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. In 2002, she was appointed an Evan Pugh professor, the university's highest academic honor. In 2013 Federoff was a distinguished visiting professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and a member of the external faculty of the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...

.Fagan, Adam (22 February 2011
Plant Biologist Nina Fedoroff Assumes AAAS Presidency
American Society of Plant Biologists, Press release, Retrieved 14 May 2012

Honors

In 1990, Fedoroff was honored with the Howard Taylor Ricketts Award from

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, and in 1992 she received the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wi ...

Outstanding Contemporary Women Scientist Award. In 1997, Fedoroff received the John P. McGovern Science and Society Medal from

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...

. In 2003, she was awarded Syracuse University's George Arents Pioneer medal. In 2001, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

appointed Fedoroff to the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...

, which oversees the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

. which administers the science awards. Fedoroff was Science and Technology Adviser to

U.S. Secretaries of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's C ...

, Condoleezza Rice and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and from 2007 to 2010 to the administrator

Rajiv Shah Rajiv J. "Raj" Shah (born March 9, 1973) is the President of the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a former American government official, physician and health economist who served as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for Internation ...

for the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

.Staff,
Nina Fedoroff, Professor of Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University
The Economist Conferences 2012, Retrieved 14 May 2012 In 2007, President

awarded her the

in the field of Biological Sciences, the highest award for lifetime achievement in scientific research in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.Staff,
Fedoroff to Receive National Medal of Science
Pennsylvania State University, PennState Eberly College of Science, 2007 News, Retrieved 14 May 2012 Fedoroff was

President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), founded in 1848, is the world's largest general scientific society. It serves 262 affiliated societies and academies of science and engineering, representing 10 million individuals wo ...

(AAAS) from 2011 to 2012. She is a member of the

, the

, the European Academy of Sciences, and the

Private life

Fedoroff has three children and seven grandchildren. She enjoys music, theatre and singing. Fedoroff was a single mother, and as she was studying and trying to make a living, she was able to raise her three children alone.

Bibliography

Books

* *Nina Fedoroff, Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientist's View of Genetically Modified Foods, National Academy Press, 2004, *Nina Fedoroff, Plant Transposons and Genome Dynamics in Evolution, Barnes & Noble, Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, 2013,

Essays and reporting

References

External links

The Huck Institutes of the Life SciencesNina V. Fedoroff, Evan Pugh Professor of Biology, Willaman Professor of Life Science, Penn State University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedoroff, Nina American women biologists Living people 1942 births Fayetteville-Manlius High School alumni Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Rockefeller University alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty United States National Science Foundation officials Scientists from Cleveland American geneticists National Medal of Science laureates Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science People of the United States Agency for International Development University of California, Los Angeles faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty People from Fayetteville, New York Cosmos (Australian magazine) people Santa Fe Institute people Scientists from New York (state) American people of Russian descent