One Fifth of the New Members of the American Academy of Microbiology Are Women

The American Academy of Microbiology is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, the world’s oldest and largest life science organization. The mission of the Academy is to recognize scientists for outstanding contributions to microbiology and provide microbiological expertise in the service of science and the public.

Over the last 50 years, 2,700 distinguished scientists have been elected to the Academy. Fellows are elected through a highly selective, annual, peer review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

Top Row: E. Virginia Armbrust, Judith Armitage, Ann M. Arvin, Karen Beemon, Kathleen A. Boris-Lawrie, Katherine H. Freeman, and Janet Hemingway. Second Row: Patricia J. Johnson, Jennifer K. Lodge, Susan K. Pierce, Katherine R. Spindler, Kanta Subbarao, Elisabetta Ulla, and Marylynn V. Yates.

This year the academy elected 78 new fellows. Of these 16, or 20.5 percent, are women. Following is a list of the new women members of the American Academy of Microbiology.

• E. Virginia Armbrust is a professor of oceanography at the University of Washington in Seatte. She holds a Ph.D. from MIT.

• Judith P. Armitage is a professor of biochemistry at the University of Oxford in England.

• Ann M. Arvin is a professor of pediatrics and a professor of microbiology/immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California. She is a graduate of Brown University and the medical school at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Karen Beemon is a professor of biology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she earned a Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley.

• Kathleen A. Boris-Lawrie is a professor of veterinary biosciences and professor of molecular virology, immunology, and medical genetics at Ohio State University.

• Katherine H. Freeman is a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. She holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University.

• Janet Hemingway is director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in England.

• Patricia J. Johnson is a professor of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Murray State University and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

• Jennifer K. Lodge is a professor of molecular biology at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. from Washington University.

• Julie Overbaugh is a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. Her research is in the area of retrovirus biology, particularly the biology of HIV. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado.

• Susan K. Pierce is chief of the Laboratory of Immunogenetics at the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland.

• Susan E. Sharp is director of microbiology at Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Oregon.

• Katherine R. Spindler is a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan Medical School. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego.

• Kanta Subbarao is chief of the emerging respiratory viruses section at the National Institutes of Health. A graduate of the University of Madras, she holds a master of public health degree from the University of Oklahoma.

• Elisabetta Ulla is a professor of cell biology and professor of infectious diseases at the Yale University School of Medicine. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Rome.

• Marylynn V. Yates is a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of California at Riverside. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, she holds a master’s degree from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.