Anne Fausto-Sterling
Professor of Biology:
Bio Med Molecular, Cellular Biology Biochemistry
Phone: +1 401 863 2109
Anne_Fausto-Sterling@Brown.EDU
Professor Fausto-Sterling's work applies dynamic systems theory to the study of human development. Newspapers are awash with reports of genes for this or that complex human trait (obesity, alcoholism, homosexuality, gender differences in math and science). A great divide exists between people who accept biological explanations of human difference and those who reject biology in favor of social explanations. Her big ambition is to restructure dichotomous conversations--inside the academy, in public discourse, and ultimately in the framing of social policy--in order to enable an understanding of the inseparability of nature/nurture.
Biography
Anne Fausto-Sterling is Professor of Biology and Gender Studies in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University. She is Chair of the Faculty Committee on Science & Technology Studies.
In addition to having served on the Brown faculty for more than 30 years, Anne Fausto-Sterling has been a visiting professor at a number of institutions in the US and abroad in departments of Biology, Medical Science, Gender Studies and Science Studies. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she has received grants and fellowships in both the sciences and the humanities.
Author of scientific publications in developmental genetics, gender studies and science studies, Professor. Fausto-Sterling has achieved recognition for works that challenge entrenched scientific beliefs while engaging with the general public.
Professor Fausto-Sterling's past laboratory work has included studies of the genetics of development in fruit flies and the developmental ecology of flatworms. Her current work applies dynamic systems theory to the study of human development. Professor Fausto-Sterling's current case studies examine sex differences in bone development, the emergence of gender differences in behavior in early childhood and the emergence of human sexuality.
A more detailed biography may be found in the Sept. 2005 issue of Current Biography or by clicking on the link under "On the Web" on this web site.
Interests
Professor Fausto-Sterling is applying dynamic systems theory to the study of human development. Newspapers are awash with reports of genes for this or that complex human trait (obesity, alcoholism, homosexuality, gender differences in math and science). A great divide exists between people who accept biological explanations of human difference and those who reject biology in favor of social explanations. My big ambition is to restructure dichotomous conversations--inside the academy, in public discourse, and ultimately in the framing of social policy--in order to enable an understanding of the inseparability of nature/nurture. Dynamic systems theory permits us to understand how cultural difference becomes bodily difference. Professor Fausto-Sterling's current case studies in this area examine sex differences in bone development and the emergence of gender differences in behavior in early childhood.
Degrees
Ph. D.
Awards
1970-1971 National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Trainee in Developmental Biology.
1972 NATO Advanced Study Institute, Venice, Italy.
1980-1981 Mellon Fellow of the Wellesley Center for Research on Women.
1982-Fall Faculty Fellow, Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women (on leave).
1984-1985 Invited participant in the Mellon Research Seminar on Women, Science and Technology, Wellesley Center for Research on Women.
1984-1985 Travel Fellowship and per diem for attendance of Mellon Seminar at the Wellesley Center for Research on Women.
1990 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
1991 Recipient, Research Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies.
1994 Essay "The Five Sexes" receives honorable mention in volume entitled: The Best American Essays of 1994.
1995 Recipient of "The Women of Distinction Award." Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York.
1997 Biographical profile in No Universal Constants: Journeys of Women in Science and Engineering. Temple University Press (1997) eds. Nair, Indira et al.
1997-1998 Fellow, Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology, MIT.
1997-1998 Fellow, American Council of Learned Societies.
1999 RI Association for Women in Psychology "Vision to Action Award" "for her efforts in articulating a vision, taking action to make it a reality, and inspiring other women to do the same."
2000 Appointed Edith Kreeger Wolff Visiting Professor in Gender Studies at Northwestern University (for a 3 week period in Fall of 2000).
2000 Sexing the Body chosen as one of the Outstanding Academic Books of 2000 by CHOICE Magazine (Published by the American Library Association).
2000 Sexing the Body co-winner of the Robert K Merton Award of the American Sociological Association Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology.
2001 Sexing the Body received Distinguished Publication Award by the Association for Women in Psychology.
2001 Inaugural Lecturer of the Judith Lorber Lecture in Gender Studies at the University of Bar-Ilan, Israel.
2003 Invited Scholar, Stanford University Center for the Humanities.
2005 Margaret Brent Award, St. Mary's College, Maryland.
2005 2005 Harriet W. Sheridan Award for Distinguished Contribution to Teaching and Learning at Brown University.
Affiliations
Fellow:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member:
The Developmental Biology Society
The Society for the History of Science
The International Society for the History, Sociology, and Philosophy of Biology
The National Women's Studies Association
The Association for Women in Science
International Association for Sex Research
Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology
Teaching
Professor Fausto-Sterling teaches courses in developmental biology and in science and technology studies. She also directs the Science and Society Concentration and advises students in this major. She is, as well, an advisor for undergraduate Human Biology concentrators
Funded Research
1972-1974 General Research Support Grant from Brown University, "Oogenesis and the Control of Early Embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster". $10,000
1974-1977 National Science Foundation Grant No. BMS-19691, "Control of Embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster." $30,000
1974-1977 National Foundation--March of Dimes: Basil O'Connor Starter Research Grant, "Studies of a Eukaryote Model for Orotic Aciduria." $46,137
1975-1978 National Institutes of Health Grant No. HD-07918, "Control of Embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster." Total Direct Costs: $79,267
1977-1979 National Foundation--March of Dimes, "A Eukaryotic Model for the Analysis of Pyrimidine Biosynthesis." $36,000
1978-1980 National Science Foundation, "Control of Embryogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster." $84,000
1980-1984 National Science Foundation "Cellular adhesivity and the determined state of imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster." $55,000 for year 1; $60,000 for year 2; $65,000 for year 3
1981 Summer supplement to NSF for salary and travel for Dr. Florian Muckenthaler, Visiting Professor in my laboratory. ($12,000)
1984-1987 National Science Foundation, "Cellular adhesivity and the determined state of imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster." $155,000 for 2 ½ years.
1988-1989 Bio-Med Research Support Grant, "A New Look at Planarian Development." $6,000
1989-1990 Bio-Med Research Support Grant, "Genetic Control of Planarian Regeneration." $1,600
1990-1992 Hughes Foundation Grant for planarian research. $5,000
1991 Biology Research Support Grant, "The Evolution of Sexuality in Planaria" (with D. Rand, A. Schmitt, and L. Brooks). $7,000
1992 National Science Foundation--History of Science. "Dissecting Black Women: Biologists' Accounts of Race and Gender in the 19th Century". $50,000
1999-2000 Social Science Research Foundation, from the Sexuality Research Fellowship Program, "An Unexplored Country: American Sex Research and the Rise of the Survey, 1900-1948" (with Miriam Reumann, Ph.D.). $44,000
2004 Brown University Wayland Collegium support for a 2-day roundtable in the fall of 2004 on "Understanding Sexual differentiation: A New Paradigm for Psychology". $5,000
2004 Marshall Woods Lectureships Foundation of Fine Arts award (Brown University Lectureship Funds) for "Race and the Human Genome". $5,000
2004 Ford Foundation Grant (via the Pembroke Center) for roundtable on the topic of "Understanding Sexual Differentiation in Human Development" $25,000
2005 The Pembroke Center for Research on "The Emergence of Difference in Early Child Development". $20,000 for one year
2006-2008 The Ford Foundation, "A dynamic systems approach to the emergence of sex-related differences in infancy". $60,000.
Web Links
Curriculum Vitae
Download Anne Fausto-Sterling's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format
