title: MIT Department of Biology
text: # MIT Department of Biology
  
  The MIT Department of Biology ("Course VII") is a center for research and teaching in the life sciences. Many members of the faculty hold joint appointments with other departments at MIT and with outside institutions.
  
  ## Faculty members
  
  As of 2020 faculty members include:
  
  ### Full Professors
  
  * Tania A. Baker
  * David Bartel
  * Stephen P. Bell
  * Christopher Burge
  * Iain Cheeseman
  * Jianzhu Chen
  * Cathy Drennan
  * Gerald Fink
  * Frank Gertler
  * Alan Grossman
  * Leonard P. Guarente
  * H. Robert Horvitz, S.B. 1968
  * David Housman
  * Richard Hynes
  * Barbara Imperiali
  * Tyler Jacks
  * Rudolf Jaenisch
  * Chris Kaiser
  * Amy Keating
  * Monty Krieger
  * Eric S. Lander
  * Michael T. Laub
  * Jacqueline Lees
  * J. Troy Littleton
  * Harvey F. Lodish
  * David C. Page
  * Uttam RajBhandary
  * Peter Reddien
  * Aviv Regev
  * David M. Sabatini
  * Robert T. Sauer
  * Thomas Schwartz
  * Phillip A. Sharp
  * Anthony Sinskey
  * Hazel Sive
  * Frank Solomon
  * Lisa Steiner
  * Susumu Tonegawa
  * Matthew Vander Heiden
  * Graham Walker
  * Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D. 1969
  * Michael B. Yaffe
  * Richard A. Young
  
  ### Associate professors
  
  * Laurie Boyer
  * Mary Gehring
  * Michael Hemann
  * Adam C. Martin
  
  ### Assistant professors
  
  * Eliezer Calo
  * Joseph H. Davis
  * Ankur Jain
  * Rebecca Lamason
  * Gene-Wei Li
  * Pulin Li
  * Sebastian Lourido
  * Stefani Spranger
  * Jing-Ke Weng
  * Seychelle Vos
  * Omer Yilmaz
  
  ### Professors with primary appointments in other departments
  
  * Sallie (Penny) Chisholm
  * Douglas Lauffenburger
  * Elly Nedivi
  * Matthew Wilson
  
  ### Professors emeriti
  
  * Martha Constantine-Paton
  * Malcolm Gefter
  * Nancy Hopkins
  * Jonathan King
  * Terry Orr-Weaver
  * Mary-Lou Pardue
  * Sheldon Penman
  * Phillips Robbins
  * Robert Rosenberg
  * Leona D. Samson
  * Paul Schimmel
  * Edward Scolnick
  * Ethan Signer
  * JoAnne Stubbe
  * William (Chip) Quinn
  
  ## Department Heads
  
  * 1889-1921 William T. Sedgwick
  * 1921-1942 Samuel C. Prescott
  * 1942-1955 Francis O. Schmitt
  * 1957-1966 Irwin W. Sizer
  * 1966-1977 Boris Magasanik
  * 1977-1985 Gene M. Brown
  * 1985-1989 Maurice Fox
  * 1989-1991 Richard O. Hynes
  * 1991-1999 Phillip Sharp
  * 1999-2004 Robert T. Sauer
  * 2004-2012 Chris Kaiser
  * 2012-2014 Tania Baker
  * 2014-2023 Alan Grossman
  * 2023 Amy Keating
  
  ## Alumni
  
  Alumni of the department include:
  
  ### Nobel laureates
  
  The department can claim several winners of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine among its faculty and alumni. They are:
  
  * Michael Rosbash, 2017
  * Andrew Fire, 2006
  * H. Robert Horvitz, 2002
  * Leland H. Hartwell, 2001
  * Phillip A. Sharp, 1993
  * E. Donnall Thomas, 1990
  * Susumu Tonegawa, 1987
  * David Baltimore, 1975
  * Salvador Luria, 1969
  * Har Gobind Khorana, 1968
  
  ### Former faculty
  
  Former faculty include:
  
  * Angelika Amon
  * Gene Brown
  * Arnold Demain
  * Herman Eisen
  * Vernon Ingram
  * Susan Lindquist
  * Maurice Fox
  * Har Gobind Khorana
  * Irving London
  * Salvador Luria
  * Alexander Rich
  
  ### Other notable alumni
  
  Other notable alumni include
  
  * Victor Ambros, Ph.D., 1979
  * Cornelia Bargmann, Ph.D., 1987
  * Kevin Eggan, Ph.D., 2002
  * Stephen J. Elledge, Ph.D., 1983
  * Andrew Fire, Ph.D., 1983
  * Leland H. Hartwell, Ph.D., 1964
  * Richard O. Hynes, Ph.D., 1971
  * Cynthia Kenyon, Ph.D., 1979
  * Michael Rosbash, Ph.D., 1970
  * Allan C. Spradling, Ph.D., 1975
  