Joshua Lederberg, Ph.D.

Recruitment and Screening Panel

Joshua Lederberg, a research geneticist, is president-emeritus and Sackler Foundation Scholar at the Rockefeller University in New York. Dr. Lederberg was educated at Columbia and Yale Universities, where he pioneered in the field of bacterial genetics with the discovery of genetic recombination in bacteria. In 1958, at the age of 33, Dr. Lederberg received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this work and subsequent research on microbial genetics and evolution. In 1989, he received the National Medal of Science with a special citation for his role in providing scientific advice to public interests and to governments and international organizations. He has also been and remains an active consultant to the biotechnology industry. From Yale, he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin in 1947. In 1959, he founded the Department of Genetics at Stanford University's School of Medicine, where he remained as chair until he assumed the presidency of Rockefeller University in 1978. He retired as president in 1990, but continues his research on the instability and repair of DNA in different physiological settings. He is also a Consulting Professor at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation. Dr. Lederberg recently co-chaired the NAS/IOM study of Emerging Infections. He has been actively involved in advice to many health and security agencies on the threats of biological warfare, and how to mitigate them. "Biological Weapons - Limiting the Threat", compiled and edited by Dr. Lederberg was issued recently by the MIT Press. He has also served as chairman of the DNA Advisory Board for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. From 1966-1971 Dr. Lederberg authored a weekly column in the Washington Post on Science and Public Affairs. He has written over 300 articles for general audiences, as well as an equal number in his professional specialty of genetic microbiology.