Frances Arnold

Talk Title: Innovation by Evolution: Bringing New Chemistry to Life

Frances Arnold is the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology. Arnold received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018 for pioneering directed evolution methods used to make enzymes for applications in sustainable chemistry across medicine, consumer products, agriculture, fuels and chemicals.

In 2021, she was appointed Co-Chair of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST) by President Biden. Arnold has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the US National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering. She was appointed to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Pope Francis in 2019. Arnold received her B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.