John Tyson, University Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences in Virginia Tech’s College of Science, has been elected to the inaugural class of Fellows of the Society for Mathematical Biology.
The Fellows Program allows the society to honor members who exemplify excellence in the field of mathematical biology. Tyson was honored at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society for Mathematical Biology, held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in July.
Tyson’s research currently focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying the control of cell growth, division, and death. He approaches his biological systems research from a mathematical perspective, allowing him to create models that provide a better understanding of cell physiology. His previous research focused on oscillations and wave propagation in chemical reaction systems.
He is an affiliate faculty member with the Fralin Life Science Institute and a Senior Biocomplexity Fellow at the Biocomplexity Institute of Virginia Tech.
He earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Wheaton College in 1969 and Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Chicago in 1973, completing postdoctoral work in theoretical biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, and in biochemistry and cell biology at the University of Innsbruck Medical School in Austria. He joined Virginia Tech in 1977.
Among his many awards is the 2011 Arthur T. Winfree Prize by the Society for Mathematical Biology.
According to its website, the Society for Mathematical Biology’s mission is to “promote the development and dissemination of research and education at the interface between the mathematical and biological sciences.” Tyson and other recently elected Fellows are “recognized by the scientific and scholarly community as distinguished contributors to the discipline,” the society stated.