Lynn Moorhead Riddiford (born 1936) is an American

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and developmental

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. She was the first female faculty member in the Harvard Biology Department where she served as an assistant and associate professor. She is an emeritus professor at the University of Washington. In 1997, she was the first awardee of the Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology from the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

. Riddiford studies the endocrinology of insects, specifically the

tobacco hornworm ''Manduca sexta'' is a moth of the family Sphingidae present through much of the Americas. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 '' Centuria Insectorum''. Commonly known as the Carolina sphinx moth and the tobacco hawk m ...

Education

Riddiford attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

. Her junior year, she joined Carroll Williams' lab at Harvard, where she began studying

juvenile hormone Juvenile hormones (JHs) are a group of acyclic sesquiterpenoids that regulate many aspects of insect physiology. The first discovery of a JH was by Vincent Wigglesworth. JHs regulate development, reproduction, diapause, and polyphenisms.The chemic ...

in insects and other animals and plants. This work led to her first major publication in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' in 1959. She graduated in biochemical sciences in 1958. She received her Ph.D. in zoology at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1961, advised by Professors Marcus Singer and Harold Scheraga.

Career

Riddiford returned to Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow in John Edsall's laboratory for two years. She then taught zoology at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

for two years. In 1965, she returned to Harvard as a research associate in Williams's laboratory, then became an assistant professor in 1966 and associate professor in 1971 in the Harvard Biology Department. Her lab focused on the endocrinology of the

, ''Manduca sexta'', and led to key findings about the interplay of juvenile hormone and molting hormone. In 1973, Riddiford moved to the Department of Zoology

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. In 2007, she retired from the university and became a senior fellow at the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She retired from Janelia in 2016. In 1979, Riddiford was awarded a

John Simon Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

. In 1993 she was elected 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 ...

. In 2010, Riddiford became an elected member 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 ...

. In 2011, she was awarded the

Howard Vollum Award The Howard Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology is an annual award that was created by Reed College and endowed in 1975 by a grant from the Millicent Foundation, now a part of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. ...

for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology from

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

. In June 2018, Riddiford was elected to the Washington Academy of Science for significant contributions to the field of developmental biology.

Personal life

Riddiford married James Truman, her former graduate student. Riddiford and Truman retired from Janelia Research Campus in 2016 and moved back to the University of Washington setting up their laboratory at the

Friday Harbor Laboratories Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), is a marine biology field station of the University of Washington, located in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington, United States. Friday Harbor Labs is known for its intensive summer classes offered to co ...

, Friday Harbor, Washington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddiford, Lynn 1936 births Living people American entomologists Women entomologists Harvard University faculty Radcliffe College alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American scientists Cornell University alumni American women biologists People from Friday Harbor, Washington American women academics 21st-century American women 20th-century American women scientists