Frances Arnold

2018 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry for pioneering the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes. As a professor of chemical engineering at Caltech, Frances is a pioneer of “directed evolution,” a method of biological design that is a cornerstone of many industrial and biotechnological innovations. Her contributions to science and engineering have been recognized by numerous awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize in 2018, the Draper Prize in 2011, the 2011 National Medal of Technology, and the election to the three U.S. National Academies. Frances co-founded Gevo and has served as a scientific advisor to notable biotech companies, including Maxygen, Codexis, Amyris, Mascoma, and Fluidigm. Frances currently advises Illumina, Genomatica, Twist Biosciences, and Arivale.