Frances Hamilton Arnold
Personal Information
Born: 1956
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Princeton University, BS in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, 1979; University of California, Berkeley, MS, PhD in Chemical Engineering, 1985
Professional Life
Field of Study: Chemical Engineering
Institution/Corporation: California Institute of Technology; Provivi; GEVO, Inc
Degrees & Memberships: Member: 2000, National Academy of Engineering; 2011, American Academy of Arts & Sciences; 2004, National Academy of Medicine; 2008, National Academy of Sciences; 2010, Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science; 2009, Fellow American Academy of Microbiology; 2001, Fellow American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering; 2018, International Fellow of UK s Royal Academy of Engineering; 2018, American Philosophical Society; 2001, Fellow Indian National Academy of Engineering; Honorary Degree: 2019, Technical University of Denmark; 2017, Dartmouth College; 2016, University of Chicago; 2015, ETH Zurich; 2013, Stockholm University
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2005, Garvan-Olin Medal; 2007, FASEB Excellence in Science Award; 2011, Draper Prize (first female to win award); 2011, National Medal of Technology & Innovation; 2016, Millenium Technology Prize (first female to win award); 2017, Sackler Prize in Convergence Research; 2018, Nobel Prize in Chemistry; 2014, National Inventors Hall of Fame; 2018, listed as 1 of BBC s 100 Women; 2019, named by Pope Francis a member of Pontifical Academy of Sciences; 2017, Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award; 2015, Elmer Gaden Award, Biotechnology & Bioengineering; 2014, Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement; 2013, ENI Prize in Renewable & Nonconventional Energy; 2022, Research.com Best Female in Science Award;
Achievements: directed evolution of enzymes
2018, recipient of Nobel Prize in Chemistry for pioneering the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes
Co-chair of President Biden's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology (PCAST) since 2021
As a high school student, hitchhiked from her home in Pittsburgh to DC to protest the Vietnam War; lived on her own working as a cocktail waitress at a local jazz bar & as a cab driver
Was very independent, skipped a lot of school & received low grades while scoring almost perfectly on standardized tests
Applied to Princeton as a mechanical engineer because it was the easiest option to get into school
After her 2nd year at Princeton, took a year off, went to Italy & worked in a factory that made nuclear reactor parts
Founded GEVO to make fuels & chemicals from renewable sources; founded Provivi with 2 of her former students to research alternatives to pesticides for crop protection
Is a breast cancer survivor
Holds 56 patents