Former Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman Honored by the Genetics Society of America

Shirley M. Tilghman, professor emerita of molecular biology and public affairs and former president of Princeton University in New Jersey, is the winner of the 2022 winner of the George W. Beadle Award from the Genetics Society of America for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.

The award citation lauded Dr. Tilghman’s “exemplary contributions to the genetics community and society with service on the National Advisory Council for the Human Genome Project Initiative and advocacy for transparent, equitable policies, openness in data sharing and publicly available databases, and sustainable funding policies. The award also recognizes pioneering contributions to mammalian imprinting.”

“I am deeply grateful to the Genetics Society of America, and my colleagues who nominated me for this wonderful honor,” said Dr. Tilghman. “Having an award named after one of the 20th century’s greatest geneticists is truly meaningful to me.”

A native of Canada, Professor Tilghman earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. After two years of secondary school teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa, she obtained her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Tilghman came to Princeton in 1986 as the Howard A. Prior Professor of the Life Sciences. She served as president of the university from 2001 to 2013.