Rita Colwell

Rita Colwell is a Distinguished University Professor with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies.

Colwell is one of the world’s leading researchers of cholera—a waterborne disease estimated by the World Health Organization to strike three to five million people annually, many of them young children. Her efforts to track and predict cholera outbreaks are multi-faceted, combining bioinformatics with the pioneering use of satellite imaging. She was one of the first scientists to employ remote sensing for disease prediction, as well as recognize the impact of climate change on the waterborne microbial world.

Dr. Colwell has served as Director of the National Science Foundation, President of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), President of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), and Chair of the Research Board for the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.