Nina Fedoroff is well known for her research in life sciences and biotechnology. She has served on the faculties of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania State University, where she was the Director of the Biotechnology Institute and the founding Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. She is a member of several academies, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and is President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Among her awards is a 2006 National Medal of Science, the highest honor awarded to US scientists. She served as the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State and to the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2007 to 2010.