Dr. Liane B. Russell, genetics and radiation biology pioneer, will address the 58 seniors participating in the recognition service for mid-year graduates on Sunday, Dec. 11. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel. Candidates being recognized are expected to complete degree requirements at the end of December 2004 or January 2005.

Dr. Russell also will be awarded an honorary doctor of science degree from Berea College.

A native of Vienna, Austria, Russell was the recipient of the 1994 Enrico Fermi Award, the United States government’s oldest science and technology award. The Presidential award is given for a lifetime of achievement in the field of nuclear energy.

Russell has made fundamental scientific contributions to basic genetics, mutagenesis and teratogenesis (the production of non-inherited reproductive defects.) Among her achievements are the discovery of the chromosomal basis for sex determination in mammals and pioneering contributions to the effects of radiation on the developing embryo and fetus. Dr. Russell’s findings have been the benchmark for the study of mutations in mammals and for genetic risk assessment worldwide. Russell has also lead research on mutations that cause congenital cleft palate, polycystic kidney disease, obesity/diabetes and auto-immune disorder.

Over the past four decades, Russell also has had a second career as a volunteer activist for the protection of wild and natural lands and rivers in Tennessee and the nation. With the help of an organization she helped to found, her efforts have led, among other things, to the creation of the 125,000-acre Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and the Obed National Wild and Scenic River. Her honors in this area include the National Parks and Conservation’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Award in 1993.

Russell earned her B.A. from Hunter College in New York City and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She became a United States citizen in 1946. In 1947, she joined the staff of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, from which she retired from full-time research in 2002. In addition to the Fermi Award, Russell has received many other national and international honors for her scientific work. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1986.