Thomas Pollard, formerly of the Salk Institute, Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins Medical School, will join the Yale University faculty this fall in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology.
A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Pollard served as president of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., from 1996 to 2000 and is currently a member of the Salk faculty. He began his career at Harvard, where he taught for five years, and then directed the Department of Cell Biology at the Johns Hopkins Medical School from 1977 to 1996.
He was honored seven times with teaching awards while at Hopkins and led the reorganization of the first year medical curriculum.
"Professor Pollard is a brilliant scientist and a great leader," said Yale Provost Alison Richard. "We are particularly delighted that he has accepted our offer at this important moment for science and engineering at Yale, as we embark on a series of major investments in these fields."
Pollard also has been very active in the laboratory. He pioneered research on the molecular basis of cellular motility, discovered the first unconventional myosin and studies the role of myosin in cytokinesis. Pollard characterized the assembly of actin filaments and discovered and characterized proteins that regulate actin filament assembly, most notably capping protein and Arp2/3 complex. This work culminated recently in a detailed molecular explanation for how a few proteins control the assembly and disassembly of actin filaments that produce cellular movements.
"He's a leader in national science and he is an extraordinary human being," said Graduate School Dean Susan Hockfield. "He's an absolutely stellar cell biologist."
Pollard served as president of the American Society for Cell Biology and the Biophysical Society and has been active politically in support of funding for biomedical research. At the Marine Biological Laboratory he taught (1974-77) and directed (1989-93) the physiology course and served as a member of the board of trustees. He chaired the Commission on Life Sciences at the National Research Council from 1993-1998.
Pollard is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
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