Nina Fedoroff

Nina Vsevolod Fedoroff (born 1942) is an American professor at Penn State university known for her research in life sciences and biotechnology. She will receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest award for lifetime achievement in scientific research.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she is graduated summa cum laude in 1966 from Syracuse University with a dual major in biology and chemistry, she received her PhD in 1972 from The Rockefeller University. Fedoroff arrived at Penn State in 1995 and founded and directed the organization now known as the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. In 2002, she was appointed an Evan Pugh professor, the university's highest academic honor. She currently holds the Verne M. Willaman chair of Life Sciences.

President Bill Clinton appointed Fedoroff to the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation, in 2001. The foundation administers the science awards, established by Congress in 1959. Dr. Fedoroff was recently named science and technology adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.