Rosalind Kornfeld, Ph.D.

Rosalind Kornfeld, Ph.D. (1935-2007) was a pioneer in the field of glycoprotein structure and function. She made seminal contributions to our understanding of the assembly of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides, lectin-glycan binding specificity, and mechanisms controlling sugar nucleotide biosynthesis.

Rosalind was Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Washington University School of Medicine. Throughout her career, she contributed immensely to training of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, especially women. Two prestigious awards have been established to honor Rosalind's achievements: the Rosalind Kornfeld Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Glycobiology and the Rosalind Kornfeld Lecture for Distinguished Women in Science from the Academic Women's Network at Washington University in St. Louis. She had a wonderful lifelong collaboration and raised three children with her husband Stuart Kornfeld (photo).

I had the incredibly good fortune of being a graduate student in Rosalind's lab from 1981-1985. She taught me about so many aspects of science and life, most often by example. She encouraged me when results were perplexing and never questioned my abilities. She taught me how to shape my experiments into a story. She was the quintessential role model for me, and I believe for countless young women. She provided such a gentle and almost invisible hand of guidance; she truly shaped my career from there on. I am forever grateful to her for accepting me into her lab as a graduate student.

Submitted by Joyce Bischoff