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Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts and Sciences, was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences April 27, one of the highest honors a scientist or engineer can achieve.
Schaal is widely known for her work using molecular genetic techniques to study plant evolution. Her emphasis is on native species, some of them endangered. She is widely sought for her expertise in plant evolutionary and conservation genetics.
Schaal has been a member of the Washington University faculty since 1980 and served as chair of the biology department from 1993 to 1997. She has worked on plants from around the world -- wild rice from Brazil and China, for instance, tomato species from Chile and African trees, along with endangered native prairie plants.
She has used sophisticated techniques to trace the origin of the Third World staple crop cassava, which feeds more than 600 million people worldwide, and to study the evolution of disease-resistance genes in plants. She has worked extensively with the resources and scientists at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where she has been a research associate since coming to the University.
"Barbara Schaal is a professor whom I have admired for many years," said Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts and Sciences. "I am so pleased that the professional scientific community has granted her this high honor. She does important research and has been a wonderful teacher to students at all levels -- from freshmen to graduate students. I can think of no one more deserving."
Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences and biology department chair, was equally enthusiastic. "Barbara's election to the national academy is a reflection of her seminal contributions to the field of population and evolutionary processes occurring in native plant species," Quatrano said.
"She has employed the most recent genetic and molecular approaches to study this important field. This recognition of her scientific contributions and leadership will further enhance the strengths in this department in ecology, population biology and evolution. It also underscores our enhanced commitment to the plant sciences at Washington University and in the St. Louis area."
A Chicago native, Schaal attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and graduated in 1969 with honors in biology. She received a master's degree in 1971 and a doctorate in 1974, both from Yale University. She was a faculty member at the University of Houston from 1974 to 1976 and at Ohio State University from 1976 to 1980.
She has been a reviewer for many professional journals, including Science, Nature and Evolution, and has served on committees for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She has been associate editor of Molecular Biology and Evolution since 1993. Schaal is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Botanical Society of America, which she served as president; the Genetics Society of America; and the Society for Conservation Biology, among other professional organizations.
She was one of 60 Americans elected to the academy this year in recognition "of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research." The academy also elected 15 foreign associates.
The academy is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science. An act of Congress, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, established the academy in 1863 to act as an official adviser to the government in matters of science and technology.
