MBL Trustees Elect Six New Members

For Immediate Release: February 27, 2012 Contact: Andrea Early, (508) 289-7725; aearly@mbl.edu WOODS HOLE, MA—The Trustees of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) recently elected six new Board members. Dr. Ethan A. Lerner of Chestnut Hill, MA was elected to the Class of 2013. Dr. Rita R. Colwell of Bethesda, MD, Dr. Robert Haselkorn of Chicago, IL Mr. William I. Huyett of Concord, MA, Dr. Walter E. Massey of Chicago, IL, and Dr. Dyann R. Wirth of Boston, MA were each elected to the Class of 2015.

Dr. Rita R. Colwell is Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. and Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. Government (including Director of the National Science Foundation), nonprofit science policy organizations, private foundations, and in the international scientific research community. She is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water. Dr. Colwell is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Dr. Robert Haselkorn is the F.L. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago and a recipient of the university's Quantrell Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching. A world-renowned authority on the genetics of photosynthetic bacteria and cyanobacteria, Dr. Haselkorn is a member of the National Academy of Sciences as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Haselkorn is an alumnus of the MBL’s Physiology and Molecular Evolution courses, and previously served on the MBL Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2010. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.     Mr. William I. Huyett is a director at McKinsey and Company, Inc. serving European and U.S.-based clients, primarily in the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical products, and healthcare payor/provider sectors. His work focuses on corporate strategy, product development and commercialization, and corporate leadership. Mr. Huyett previously served on the MBL Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2010.

Dr. Ethan A. Lerner is Chair of the Board and co-founder of Lerner Medical Devices. He is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, and is a co-inventor of Levia® and the fiber optic hairbrush (Levia LiteBrushTM). His laboratory at the Cutaneous Biology Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital has been supported continuously by competitive research grants from the National Institutes of Health for more than fifteen years. In addition to authoring over 90 peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Lerner holds twelve U.S. patents. He received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University.    

Dr. Walter E. Massey is an educator, physicist, and business executive. He is the current President of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the former Chairman of Bank of America, having replaced Ken Lewis in April 2009. Dr. Massey is also the former President of Morehouse College and a former Director of the National Science Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and previously served on the MBL Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2010.      

Dr. Dyann F. Wirth is co-director of the Harvard University Global Infectious Diseases Program, Senior Associate Member at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Co-Director of the Broad’s Infectious Disease Initiative. At the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Wirth is the Richard Pearson Strong Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and directs the Harvard Malaria Initiative. Her work has focused on understanding the mechanism of drug resistance in protozoan parasites and using this information to develop new approaches to either preventing or reversing drug resistance in these organisms. Her current work includes both fundamental investigation and field-based studies, primarily in Africa. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is on the Board of Directors of the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation. Dr. Wirth has been both a student and faculty member in the MBL’s Biology of Parasitism course. Other MBL Board of Trustee members include Dr. John W. Rowe, Chairman; Dr. Joan V. Ruderman, Speaker of the Corporation; Dr. Gary G. Borisy, President and Director; Mrs. Mary B. Conrad, Treasurer of the Corporation; Christopher M. Weld, Esq., Clerk of the Corporation; Dr. David Gadsby, Chairman of the Science Council, Robert H. Ament, Esq., Mr. Bruce A. Beal, Dr. Millicent Bell, Mr. Paul R. Dupee, Dr. Gerald R. Fink, Dr. L. Patrick Gage, Dr. James N. Galloway, Dr. Caroline S. Harwood, Mr. H. David Hibbitt, Mr. Kenneth E. Johns, Jr., Mr. George W. Logan, Dr. Douglas A. Melton, Mr. Richard S. Morse, Jr., Dr. R. Dana Ono, Mr. Saul J. Pannell, Mr. Jeffrey H. Pierce, Dr. Robert A. Prendergast, Mr. George Putnam, Mrs. Patricia K. Robertson, Dr. Elise Rose, Mr. Charles M. Rosenthal, Dr. Walter J. Salmon, Mr. James A. Sharp.

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The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery and improving the human condition through research and education in biology, biomedicine, and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the MBL is an independent, nonprofit corporation.