The official biography below was current at the time of the award. Awardees may choose to provide their latest biographical information on their profile page.

Mary Anne Nelson has demonstrated a commitment to linking research at a competitive national level with excellence in teaching and mentoring at all levels. She has provided years of service to the fungal genomics community and is Director of the Neurospora Genome Project. She has had a major impact on the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers of many underrepresented students through her direct mentoring and work with minority undergraduate research training programs such as NSF’s Research Improvements in Minority Institutions and the NIH Minority Access to Research Careers Program. Since 1992, Dr. Nelson has worked with 47 undergraduate and Ph.D. students in her laboratory. Dr. Nelson has published 31 peer reviewed papers, nine of which are co-authored with underrepresented students from her group.