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Edwards Named Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
Cambridge, Mass. - January 27, 2004 - Scott V. Edwards has been appointed professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, effective Jan. 1, 2004. Edwards will also serve as curator of the bird collection at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, the fourth-largest such collection in the U.S.
An expert on avian biology, Edwards comes to Harvard from the University of Washington, where he has most recently served as professor of biology and curator of genetic resources at the Burke Museum. His research has earned him a reputation as a world leader in the genetics of birds and reptiles, and has yielded many insights into avian ecology, evolution, and behavior.
"Professor Edwards is respected for his intellect, his vision, his ability to bring material to life in the classroom, and his skilled mentoring of students," says William C. Kirby, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Edith and Benjamin Geisinger Professor of History. "His work has increased by an order of magnitude the avian DNA sequences available for genetic analysis, leading to new insights into avian genome evolution and population genetics. He will bring a valued modern perspective on avian biology to the Harvard faculty."
Edwards, 40, earned an A.B. in biology from Harvard in 1986, and received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1992. He joined the Washington faculty in 1995, following an Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Florida. In recent years he has also served as a visiting researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra and the Institute for Animal Health in the U.K.
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