Lynn Moorhead Riddiford (born 1936) is an American entomologist and developmental biologist. She was the first female faculty member in the Harvard Biology Department[1] where she served as an assistant and associate professor. She is an emeritus professor at the University of Washington. In 1997, she was the first awardee of the Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology from the Entomological Society of America.[2] Riddiford studies the endocrinology of insects, specifically the tobacco hornworm.

Lynn M. Riddiford
Born
Lynn Virginia Moorhead

Tennessee
NationalityAmerican
Alma materRadcliffe College, Cornell University
Known forHormonal control of molting and metamorphosis
SpouseJames W. Truman
AwardsNational Academy of Sciences
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology, developmental biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Washington, Harvard University, Wellesley College
Thesis Structural Studies of Paramyosin  (1961)
Doctoral advisorMarcus Singer, Harold Scheraga
Other academic advisorsCarroll Williams, John Edsall
Websitewww.biology.washington.edu/people/profile/lynn-m-riddiford

Education

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Riddiford attended Radcliffe College. Her junior year, she joined Carroll Williams' lab at Harvard, where she began studying juvenile hormone in insects and other animals and plants. This work led to her first major publication in Nature in 1959.[3] She graduated in biochemical sciences in 1958. She received her Ph.D. in zoology at Cornell University in 1961, advised by Professors Marcus Singer and Harold Scheraga.[4][5]

Career

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University of Washington Friday Harbor Marine Biology Laboratories

Riddiford returned to Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow in John Edsall's laboratory for two years.[6] She then taught zoology at Wellesley College for two years.[7][8] In 1965, she returned to Harvard as a research associate in Williams's laboratory, then became an assistant professor in 1966 and associate professor in 1971 in the Harvard Biology Department. Her lab focused on the endocrinology of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, and led to key findings about the interplay of juvenile hormone and molting hormone.[9] In 1973, Riddiford moved to the Department of Zoology University of Washington. In 2007, she retired from the university and became a senior fellow at the Janelia Farm Research Campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She retired from Janelia in 2016.[10]

In 1979, Riddiford was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim fellowship.[11] In 1993 she was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, Riddiford became an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.[12] In 2011, she was awarded the Howard Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology from Reed College.[13] In June 2018, Riddiford was elected to the Washington Academy of Science for significant contributions to the field of developmental biology.[14]

Personal life

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Riddiford married James Truman, her former graduate student.[1] Riddiford and Truman retired from Janelia Research Campus in 2016 and moved back to the University of Washington setting up their laboratory at the Friday Harbor Laboratories, Friday Harbor, Washington.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Lynn Riddiford '58 and James Truman PhD '70". Harvard Alumni. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Winners of the Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology". Entomological Society of America. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  3. ^ Williams, Carroll; Moorhead, Lynn; Pulis, JF (February 1959). "Juvenile hormone in thymus, human placenta and other mammalian organs". Nature. 183 (4658): 405. Bibcode:1959Natur.183..405W. doi:10.1038/183405a0. PMID 13632741. S2CID 4277439.
  4. ^ Riddiford, Lynn; Scheraga, Harold (January 1962). "Structural studies of paramyosin. I. Hydrogen ion equilibria". Biochemistry. 1: 95–107. doi:10.1021/bi00907a015. PMID 14492100.
  5. ^ Riddiford, Lynn; Scheraga, Harold (January 1962). "Structural studies of paramyosin. II. Conformational changes". Biochemistry. 1: 108–114. doi:10.1021/bi00907a016. PMID 14492101.
  6. ^ Edsall, John (July 1971). "Some Personal History and Reflections from the Life of a Biochemist". Annual Review of Biochemistry. 40 (1): 1–29. doi:10.1146/annurev.bi.40.070171.000245. PMID 4941235.
  7. ^ Bulletin of Wellesley College Catalogue Number 1963-1964. Wellesley College. 30 October 1963. p. 16. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  8. ^ Bulletin of Wellesley College Catalogue Number 1964-1965. Wellesley College. 30 October 1964. p. 16. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  9. ^ Riddiford, Lynn; Truman, James (1972). "Delayed effects of juvenile hormone on insect metamorphosis are mediated by the corpus allatum". Nature. 237 (5356): 458. Bibcode:1972Natur.237..458R. doi:10.1038/237458a0. PMID 4557475. S2CID 4205651.
  10. ^ "Riddiford Lab". Janelia Research Campus. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  11. ^ "Lynn M. Riddiford". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  12. ^ Gupta, Sujata (30 July 2013). "QnAs with Lynn M. Riddiford". Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 110 (31): 12501–12502. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11012501G. doi:10.1073/pnas.1311709110. PMC 3732987. PMID 23878246 – via PMC.
  13. ^ "Dr. Lynn Riddiford Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology 2011 recipient". Reed College. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  14. ^ "Press Release". Washington State Academy of Science. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.