Dr. Rita Colwell is Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Senior Advisor and Chairman Emeritus of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., and President and CEO of CosmosID, Inc. She is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world.
Dr. Colwell served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation from 1998-2004. In this role, she was Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. Dr. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. government, nonprofit science policy organizations and private foundations, as well as the international scientific research community. A nationally respected scientist and educator, she authored or co-authored 17 books and more than 750 scientific publications, and produced the award-winning film Invisible Seas.
Prior to NSF, Dr. Colwell was President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology at the University of Maryland. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990. Dr. Colwell previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology and also as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, the International Union of Microbiological Societies and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS). Dr. Colwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, the Royal Society of Canada, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
Dr. Colwell has been award 54 honorary degrees from institutions of higher education and is the recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, bestowed by the Emperor of Japan and the 2006 National Medal of Science awarded by the President of the United States. Dr. Colwell holds a B.S. in Bacteriology and an M.S. in Genetics, from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington.
