Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., the Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts & Sciences and professor of biology, also in Arts & Sciences, was awarded the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, the Yale University Graduate School’s highest honor, at its recent commencement ceremonies.
Barbara Schaal
Schaal applies state-of-the-art theory and technique to the study of plant evolution. Major recent emphases are conserving plant diversity, the potential benefits and perils of genetically modified crops and the origins of invasive species.
Her seminal work on the plant cassava documented genetic variation among the wild progenitors of it, leading the way for other analyses. She has consistently been the voice of reason in the area where science and society meet.
Schaal earned a bachelor’s degree in 1969 with honors in biology from the University of Illinois at Chicago; a master’s in 1971, and a doctorate in 1974, both in population biology from Yale.
She joined Washington University in 1980 as associate professor in biology; she became a full professor in 1986.
In 1999, she was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, an honor that recognized her research investigating the evolutionary process within plant populations using a wide variety of techniques, from field observations to quantitative genetics and molecular biology.
Schaal has served as chair of the biology department and has served on numerous committees including the Academic Planning Committee in Arts & Sciences, the Curriculum Implementation Committee and the University Affirmative Action Committee.
She serves on the National Research Council’s Board on Life Sciences and chairs the council’s committee on agricultural biotechnology.