UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Paul Babitzke, Stanley R. Person Professor of Molecular Biology and director of the Center for RNA Molecular Biology at Penn State, has been named the Don Bryant Chair in Microbial Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. This endowed chair was established as a bequest from Don Bryant’s estate and awards a full-time faculty member in the department with an academic rank of full professor whose research and teaching focus on microbial physiology — the study of the relationship between structure and function in microorganisms and how they respond to their environment.
In 2024, Bryant, academy professor, Ernest C. Pollard Professor Emeritus of Biotechnology and professor emeritus of biochemistry and molecular biology, died, following his retirement from Penn State in 2022.
“I’ve been doing research in this field for exactly 50 years,” said Bryant when he established this chair in his name. “As I retire, I want to help ensure that there is a long-term presence of microbial physiology in my department and having an endowed position for a senior-level researcher is an important part of that.”
Babitzke’s research focuses on the regulation of gene expression — where and when genes are used in a cell — by RNA structure and RNA-binding proteins. He is interested in the fundamental mechanisms — elongation and termination — of how RNA molecules are transcribed from DNA.
Babitzke was a close friend and colleague of Bryant, and he expressed his gratitude for being awarded this endowed chair.
“Don Bryant was an outstanding microbial physiologist and a close colleague for 30 years,” Babitzke said. “His work is responsible for establishing much of what is known about molecular mechanisms responsible for bacterial photosynthesis. I am deeply honored to have my name associated with this prolific scientist.”
Babitzke has been co-director of the Center for RNA Molecular Biology in the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences since 2009. He was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2016, as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) in 2017, and is a member of the American Society of Microbiology (ASM), AAAS and the RNA Society.
"Paul’s selection as the Don Bryant Chair in Microbial Physiology is a fitting tribute to Don’s legacy and to the impact he had on our department,” said Santhosh Girirajan, T. Ming Chu Professor of Genomics and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “Paul’s research on RNA biology and microbial gene regulation reflects the same curiosity and rigor that Don exemplified throughout his career. I am happy to see Don’s memory honored through a colleague whose contributions make meaningful impact on our community."
Babitzke joined the faculty at Penn State as an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in 1994, became associate professor in 2000 and professor in 2006. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University from 1991 to 1994. Babitzke earned a doctoral degree in genetics at the University of Georgia in 1991 and a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota in 1984.