Doris Wagner Named DiMaura Professor of Biology

Doris Wagner, Professor of Biology, has been named DiMaura Professor of Biology. Wagner is the inaugural director for the Penn Plant Adaptability and Resilience Center, which is a new initiative for plant-based sustainable solutions to address climate change. A leader in the fields of plant biology, chromatin modification, and epigenetics, she investigates reprogramming of cell identity and function during developmental transitions and in response to environmental inputs in plants. She is the recipient of numerous grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health, including serving as the lead PI on the NSF Research Collaborative Network Initiative EPIC: Epigenomics of Plants, International Consortium. She is editor-in-chief of Current Opinions in Plant Biology.

Wagner is committed to science education, undergraduate research, and innovation in teaching, participating annually in the Biomedical Research Academy for high school students and leading several workshops at Penn’s Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. In addition to her service as Graduate Chair of Biology, she has served on the Penn Women’s Biomedical Society, the Penn Epigenetics Program Executive Board, the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute Executive Board, the University Genomic Initiative Committee, and the University Graduate Council. Additionally, she has served on two committees for Penn Arts & Sciences, Curriculum and Personnel.

Paul W. DiMaura, C’65, and Karen DiMaura generously established the DiMaura Professorship. Their efforts to promote conservation biology at Penn also include undergraduate scholarship support and research internships for the next generation of ecologists.