Peter J. Russell received a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Sussex, England, in 1968 and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Cornell University in 1972. He has been a member of the Biology faculty of Reed College since 1972 and is currently a Professor of Biology, Emeritus. Peter taught a section of the introductory biology course, a genetics course, and a research literature course on molecular virology. In 1987 he received the Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award from Reed College in recognition of his excellence in teaching, He is the author of iGENETICS: A MOLECULAR, APPROACH, a successful genetics textbook. Peter's research was in the area of molecular genetics, with a specific interest in characterizing the role of host genes in the replication of the RNA genome of a pathogenic plant virus, and the expression of the genes of the virus; yeast was used as the model host. His research has been funded by agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the Department of Defense, the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon, and the Murdoch Foundation. He has published his research results in a variety of journals, including GENETICS, JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, MOLECULAR AND GENERAL GENETICS, NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH, PLASMID, and MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY. Peter has a long history of encouraging faculty research involving undergraduates, including cofounding the biology division of the Council on Undergraduate Research in 1985. He was Principal Investigator/Program Director of a National Science Foundation Award for the Integration of Research and Education (NSF-AIRE) to Reed College, 1998 to 2002.
