Rita R. Colwell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rita R. Colwell
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| 11th Director of the National Science Foundation | |
| In office 1998–2004 |
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| President | Bill Clinton George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Neal Francis Lane |
| Succeeded by | Arden L. Bement Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 23, 1934 Beverly, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Purdue University University of Washington |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Institutions | National Science Foundation University of Maryland College Park Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Georgetown University |
| Thesis | Commensal bacteria of marine animals; a study of their distribution, physiology and taxonomy (1961) |
| Doctoral advisor | John Liston |
| Doctoral students | Jody Deming |
Rita Rossi Colwell (born November 23, 1934) is an American scientist who studies tiny living things called microbes in the environment. She also helps manage science programs.
Rita Colwell has degrees in studying bacteria, how traits are passed down, and the ocean. She focuses on how diseases spread. She is also the founder of CosmosID, a company that uses computers to study biological information, called bioinformatics.
From 1998 to 2004, she was the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). She was the first woman to hold this important job. Since 2012, she has been on the board of directors for EcoHealth Alliance, an organization that works on health and the environment.
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Early Life and Education
Rita Colwell was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, on November 23, 1934. She was the seventh of eight children. Her parents, Louis and Louise Rossi, were not scientists.
In 1956, Rita earned her first degree in bacteriology from Purdue University. She then received her master's degree in genetics from Purdue in 1957. In 1961, she earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Her studies focused on microbes living in water. After that, she did more research in Canada.
Career Highlights
Rita Colwell is famous for her work on how infectious diseases spread through water around the world. She has created a global network to bring attention to new diseases found in drinking water. This is especially important for countries that are still developing.
Cholera Research
Early in her career, Dr. Colwell studied cholera, a serious disease. She found that cholera bacteria can "sleep" when conditions are bad. But they wake up and become active again when conditions improve.
Much of her research has focused on stopping cholera in developing countries. She looked for ways to track its spread and find cheap ways to filter the bacteria from water. Some tracking methods she used include looking at weather, water temperature, and rainfall.
Dr. Colwell found that cholera infection rates are linked to water temperatures. Warmer water can lead to more algae blooms, which can host cholera bacteria. Heavy rain and extreme weather can also help spread cholera through water systems. She also concluded that climate change will likely increase the spread of cholera.
Dr. Colwell has suggested simple, low-cost ways for people to filter water when they don't have water treatment plants. In one study in Bangladesh, people used folded sari cloth or nylon mesh filters over water pots. These simple filters reduced cholera cases by 48% compared to not filtering water at all.
Leading the National Science Foundation
Dr. Colwell was the first woman to lead the National Science Foundation (NSF). She held this position from 1998 to 2004. In 2002, she spoke about what the NSF should focus on in the future. She stressed that an educated society is key for developing new technology. It also helps the public and government support science.
She is very interested in science and math education for students from kindergarten to 12th grade. She also strongly supports having more women and minorities in science and engineering careers. Dr. Colwell doubled the money for the NSF's ADVANCE program. This program helps women advance in science and engineering jobs at universities. She also pushed for a $60 million investment in math and statistics.
After leaving the NSF in 2004, Dr. Colwell became the chief scientist at Canon U.S. Life Sciences. She later became a Senior Advisor and Chairman Emeritus there.
University Work
In 1964, Dr. Colwell joined the faculty at Georgetown University. She became a tenured professor there in 1966. While at Georgetown, her team was the first to discover that cholera bacteria naturally live in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
In 1972, Dr. Colwell became a professor at the University of Maryland. She is still a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park and at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At the University of Maryland, she is a special professor in the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies.
CosmosID Company
Dr. Colwell started the company CosmosID in 2008. She is currently the global science officer and chairman of the board. CosmosID is a bioinformatics company. It creates tools to find and identify tiny living things, called microbes, in different natural environments, or ecosystems.
EcoHealth Alliance
In November 2012, Dr. Colwell was chosen to join the Board of Directors of EcoHealth Alliance.
Publications and Media
Dr. Colwell has written or helped write over 800 scientific reports and 19 books.
In 1977, she made an award-winning film called Invisible Seas. This film showed how marine microbiologists study tiny organisms in the ocean. It highlighted how important it is to study these microbes to understand how pollution affects our oceans.
Dr. Colwell is the first editor of GeoHealth. This is a science journal from the American Geophysical Union. She saw that more research was being done on how Earth and space science helps us understand health and disease.
Her book, "A Lab of One's Own: One Woman's Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science," was released in 2020. It tells her personal story about facing challenges as a woman in science.
Dr. Colwell also co-authored a letter in The Lancet journal. The letter supported scientists and health professionals working against COVID-19. It stated that they strongly disagreed with conspiracy theories about the virus not having a natural origin.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Colwell has received 61 honorary degrees. These include special doctorates from universities like NUI Galway and the University of Notre Dame.
Some of her many awards and recognitions include:
- Member of the National Science Board (1984–1990)
- President of the American Society for Microbiology (1984–85)
- Inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame (1991)
- The Colwell Massif in Antarctica was named after her (1994).
- President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1996)
- First woman Director of the National Science Foundation (1998–2004)
- Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement (1999)
- Awarded the Order of the Rising Sun-Gold and Silver Star-by the Emperor of Japan (2005)
- Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame (2005)
- Received the National Medal of Science from President George W. Bush (2006)
- The Stockholm Water Prize (2010)
- Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine (2016)
- Mahathir Science Award (2016)
- Member of the Academies of Science in Sweden, Canada, Bangladesh, India, and the United States
- Awarded the Vannevar Bush Award (2017)
- Awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize (2018)
- Foremother Award from The National Center for Health Research (2018)
- William Bowie Medal from the American Geophysical Union (2020)
- The Columbus Center in Baltimore was renamed the Rita Rossi Colwell Center in her honor (2022).
Personal Life
Rita Colwell met her husband, Jack Colwell, when they were students at Purdue University. Jack was a physical chemistry student. They had two daughters and three grandchildren. Jack H. Colwell (1931–2018) was also a scientist at the National Bureau of Standards.
Images for kids
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A robot, symbolizing science and technology.
See also
In Spanish: Rita Colwell para niños
