Donald Richard Ort is an American botanist and biochemist. He is the Robert Emerson Professor of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

where he works on improving crop productivity and resilience to climate change by redesigning

photosynthesis Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabo ...

. He is a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(NAS) and a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(AAAS) and

American Society of Plant Biologists The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) is a non-profit professional society for research and education in plant science with over 4,000 members world-wide. It was founded in 1924, as the American Society of Plant Physiologists (ASPP). T ...

(ASPB).

Early life and education

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

in 1971 and went on to earn his doctorate in plant biochemistry from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1974. Following his doctorate, Ort was an

NIH The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

postdoctoral research fellow at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

(1974–1976) and later at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

(1976–1978).

Career

Ort joined the faculty at the

as an assistant professor in 1978 and went on to become an associate professor in 1982, and later, a full professor in 1985. From 1978 to 2018, Ort was a research plant physiologist with the Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

Agricultural Research Service (ARS); he served as the Research Leader of the Unit from 1997 to 2018. From 1986 to 1987, he was a visiting professor at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

. Ort has served as president of the International Society of Photosynthesis Research, the International Association of Plant Physiology, and the

(ASPB). He also served as editor-in-chief of ''Plant Physiology'' and is an associate editor of the ''

Annual Review of Plant Biology ''Annual Review of Plant Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews. It was first published in 1950 as the ''Annual Review of Plant Physiology''. Sabeeha Merchant has been the editor since 2005, making her the lo ...

''. Today, Ort leads the Genomic Ecology of Global Change research theme at the

Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) is ainterdisciplinaryfacility for genomics research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. ThInstitutewas built in 2006 to centralize biotechnology research at the University of Il ...

. He is a member of the Editorial Board for ''

PNAS ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of S ...

''.

Research

Ort helped found the SoyFACE (Soybean Free-Air Concentration Enrichment) research facility to study the effect of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, ozone, and temperature on crops, and served as the facility's director from 2007-2018. In 2019, he showed that a synthetic pathway for

photorespiration Photorespiration (also known as the oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle or C2 cycle) refers to a process in plant physiology, plant metabolism where the enzyme RuBisCO oxygenates RuBP, wasting some of the energy produced by photosynthesis. Th ...

could increase plant productivity. Over the past decade, Ort’s research interests have focused on the effect that specific environmental factors and abiotic stresses have on the photosynthetic performance of crop plants and on improving photosynthetic efficiency to increase crop yields. Ort serves as a leader for many research projects including as Deputy Director of

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is a translational research project that is genetically engineering plants to photosynthesize more efficiently to increase crop yields. RIPE aims to increase agricultural production worldwide, p ...

(RIPE) and Deputy Director for Research & Development for the Center for Advanced Biofuel and Bioproduct Innovation (CABBI).

Other honors and awards

The

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

recognized Ort as the Senior Area Midwest Researcher of the Year in 1993 and as a Supergrade Scientist in 2003. He was also a recipient of various Merit Awards from the

. The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) recognized Ort with the ACES Service Award in 2005 and the Team Research Award in 2006. The

(ASPB) presented Ort with the Kettering Award in 2006. From 2011 to 2013, he received a Distinguished Professor Fellowship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Ort was inducted into the

Science Hall of Fame in 2015. Ort became an elected member of the

in 2017, an elected fellow of the

in 2009, and an elected fellow of the

(ASPB) in 2007. In 2020, ASPB recognized Ort with the Charles Reid Barnes Life Membership Award. Ort has been recognized as a Pioneer Member of the

References

External links

Curriculum vitae

Faculty web page

Ort Lab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ort, Donald R. Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Wake Forest University alumni Michigan State University alumni United States Department of Agriculture people 21st-century American biochemists 21st-century American botanists 20th-century American biochemists 20th-century American botanists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science American academic journal editors Year of birth missing (living people)