Virginia Walbot (born 1946) is an American agriculturalist and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

who is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

in the Department of Biology at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. She investigates

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

development with a focus on factors involved in male sterility.

Life

Walbot first began working with corn when she used to help grow and sell it on her family's farm in Southern California. Later in the 1970s she met

Barbara McClintock Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was an American scientist and cytogeneticist who was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927. There s ...

, who was very influential. That is when Walbot began visiting McClintock's lab in Cold Spring Harbor and became devoted to studying maize development and reproduction. In 1967, Walbot received a B.A. degree in biology at

. In 1969–1972, attended Yale to work on embryogenesis, where she earned an M.Phil. and Ph.D. She attended the University of Georgia on a postdoctoral appointment. She became a faculty Member at Washington University in St. Louis. Later Walbot returned to Stanford as a professor in the Department of Biology. Walbot first worked with maize while working with Ed Coe in the University of Missouri. Walbot participates in societies including the American Society for Cell Biology, AAAS, AIBS, Genetics Society, and International Society for Plant Molecular Biology Published two books, ''Developmental Biology'' in 1987 and ''The Maize Handbook'' in 1993. Walbot has published hundreds of journal articles.

Administrative appointments

*Elected to the Steering Committee of the Faculty Senate, Stanford (2009 - 2011) *Elected to Faculty Senate, Stanford (2009–2011) *Elected to Faculty Senate, Stanford (1999–2001) *Committee on Committees, Stanford (2000–2001) *Committee on Research, Stanford (2003–2005)

Honors and awards

*Recognized as a Pioneer Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists. *Corresponding Member, Mexican Academy of Sciences (2004) *Hageman Lectureship, Kansas State University (2001) *Joan V. Wood Lectureship, Indiana University (1999) *Explorer Award, National Geographic Society (1998) *Eppley Award, Eppley Foundation (1993) *Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation (1987) *Belk Award, Miami University of Ohio (1985) *Fellow, American Assn. Advancement of Science (1981) *Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIH (1972–1975) *Predoctoral fellowship, NSF (1969–1972)

References

External links

The Walbot Lab at Stanford University

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walbot, Virginia Living people American agriculturalists Stanford University faculty American women botanists American botanists Stanford University Department of Biology faculty 1946 births 21st-century American women