Elbert Branscomb, 2003-05-30 - 2003-06-02

Elbert Branscomb received his B.A. in physics from Reed College (1957) and his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Syracuse University (1964). In 1964 he joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as a theoretical physicist and became a senior biomedical scientist in 1969. In 1986, when the Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a program to map and sequence the human genome, he assumed responsibility for the computational and mathematical component of LLNL's human genome program. In 1996 Dr. Branscomb was named the Director of the DOE's Joint Genome Institute. From 2000 to 2004 he held the position of Chief Scientist, US DOE Genome Program. In that capacity, he assisted the DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the furtherance of its genomics-related research programs. In recognition of his scientific accomplishments, he was awarded the Edward Teller Fellowship in 2001. He was the LLNL Associate Director leading its Biomedical Dictorate (2004-2007). Currently he holds the position of Affiliate Faculty at the University of Illinois in the Department of Physics and the Biocomplexity Theme at its Institute for Genomic Biology.