Roger Martin Wartell is the former Chair of the School of Biology, part of the College of Sciences at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Biography

Early life

Roger Wartell was born in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He received his B.S. degree in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

from

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanica ...

in 1966. In 1971 he received his Ph.D in physics from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

, where he worked in the group of Elliott Waters Montroll on the DNA helix-coil transition. From 1971 to 1973 he was a

NIH The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1 ...

postdoctoral fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

in the laboratory of Robert Wells at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. He was a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978-1979, and visiting scholar at

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

- Bethesda from 1987 to 1988.

Georgia Tech

Wartell joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 1974, and received a NIH Career Development Award in 1979. He served as associate chair of the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics from 1987-1988. With a 1/3 joint appointment in biology, he was appointed acting chair of the Georgia Tech School of Biology in 1990. Under his tenure as chair (1990–2004), the undergraduate curriculum was revised to provide students with three areas of emphasis:

environmental biology Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geogr ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, ...

, and

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and phys ...

and faculty size increased from 12 to 26. The areas reflected the research and educational interests of the faculty. He is a member of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

Astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investi ...

Institute at Georgia Tech. His research is focused on protein-RNA interactions in gene regulation, ribosomal evolution, and ribozyme reactions in ice.

Notable awards

* NIH Career Development Award, 1979.

Notable publications

* * *

References

External links

Roger Wartell's Faculty Page at Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech School of Biology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wartell, Roger M. American biochemists American biophysicists Georgia Tech faculty Living people Stevens Institute of Technology alumni University of Rochester alumni Year of birth missing (living people)