Biologists
23 people, across 4 fields.
Rachel Carson 1907–1964Environment, Agriculture & FoodMarine biologist whose book Silent Spring launched the modern environmental movement.
George Washington Carver 1864–1943Environment, Agriculture & FoodAgricultural scientist whose research on crop rotation and alternative crops transformed Southern farming.
James Watson 1928–2025Science & MathematicsCo-discoverer of the DNA double helix structure, earning a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
John James Audubon 1785–1851Environment, Agriculture & FoodNaturalist and illustrator whose Birds of America shaped American ornithology and the society bearing his name.
Aldo Leopold 1887–1948Environment, Agriculture & FoodEcologist whose “land ethic” became foundational to modern environmental thought.
E. O. Wilson 1929–2021Science & MathematicsBiologist whose studies of ants, biodiversity, and sociobiology reshaped ecology, evolution, and conservation debate.
Jennifer Doudna b. 1964Science & MathematicsBiochemist who co-developed CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, revolutionizing genetics and medicine.
Norman Borlaug 1914–2009Environment, Agriculture & FoodAgronomist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose Green Revolution wheat varieties saved billions from famine.
Temple Grandin b. 1947Environment, Agriculture & FoodAnimal scientist whose livestock handling designs reshaped American slaughterhouse welfare standards.
John Wesley Powell 1834–1902Exploration, Aviation & SpaceGeologist and explorer who led the first documented passage through the Grand Canyon.
Katalin Karikó b. 1955Medicine & Public HealthBiochemist whose work on modified messenger RNA enabled highly effective mRNA vaccines and new therapeutic platforms.
Stephen Jay Gould 1941–2002Science & MathematicsPaleontologist and essayist who advanced punctuated equilibrium and became a leading public interpreter of evolution.
Barbara McClintock 1902–1992Science & MathematicsCytogeneticist who discovered transposable elements and won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Jared Diamond b. 1937Scholars & Public IntellectualsGeographer and author whose Guns, Germs, and Steel offered a sweeping explanation of human inequality.
Sylvia Earle b. 1935Exploration, Aviation & SpaceMarine biologist and oceanographer known as Her Deepness for her record-breaking underwater explorations.
Luther Burbank 1849–1926Environment, Agriculture & FoodPlant breeder whose hundreds of new varieties changed American horticulture, agriculture, and popular attitudes toward scientific breeding.
Maurice Hilleman 1919–2005Medicine & Public HealthVirologist who developed or improved more than forty vaccines, preventing millions of deaths and transforming public health.
Drew Weissman b. 1959Medicine & Public HealthImmunologist whose collaboration with Katalin Karikó made mRNA vaccines practical and safe.
Mary-Claire King b. 1946Medicine & Public HealthGeneticist who identified the BRCA1 locus and applied DNA science to human-rights investigations.
Stanley Prusiner b. 1942Medicine & Public HealthNeurologist who discovered prions, establishing a new biological mechanism for infectious neurodegenerative disease.
Baruch Blumberg 1925–2011Medicine & Public HealthPhysician-scientist whose discovery of the hepatitis B virus led to diagnostic tests and a widely used vaccine.
George Beadle 1903–1989Science & MathematicsGeneticist who won the Nobel Prize for showing that genes control biochemical reactions in cells.
Florence R. Sabin 1871–1953Medicine & Public HealthPioneering medical researcher and public-health reformer who advanced knowledge of the lymphatic and immune systems.