Frances Arnold
Encyclopedia
Frances Hamilton Arnold (born 25 July 1956) is an internationally recognized American scientist and engineer. She pioneered methods of directed evolution to create useful biological systems, including enzymes, metabolic pathways, genetic regulatory circuits, and organisms. She is the Dick and Barbara Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology, where she studies evolution and its applications in science, medicine, chemicals and energy.
Her work has been recognized by many awards, including 2011 Charles Stark Draper prize and the rare honor of being elected to all three National Academies in the United States - The National Academy of Sciences
, The National Academy of Engineering
, and the Institute of Medicine
. She is the only woman to have been so honored. Arnold is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Institute of Biomedical Engineers.
Arnold is involved in alternative energy research, including the development of highly active enzymes (cellulases) and microorganisms to convert renewable biomass to fuels and chemicals. She co-founded Gevo, Inc. in 2005 and serves on the Science Advisory Boards of Codexis, Fluidigm and Mascoma, Inc.
Her work has been recognized by many awards, including 2011 Charles Stark Draper prize and the rare honor of being elected to all three National Academies in the United States - The National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, The National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
, and the Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
. She is the only woman to have been so honored. Arnold is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Institute of Biomedical Engineers.
Arnold is involved in alternative energy research, including the development of highly active enzymes (cellulases) and microorganisms to convert renewable biomass to fuels and chemicals. She co-founded Gevo, Inc. in 2005 and serves on the Science Advisory Boards of Codexis, Fluidigm and Mascoma, Inc.