Professor Rita R. Colwell of the University of Maryland has had a remarkable research career in environmental microbiology; she has energetically promoted science at North American and International levels. Her work on the biota of estuarine waters and sediments, on bacterial and viral ecology, and on the fate of human pathogens in waters, has redefined the importance of these scientific areas in microbial ecology. Her research on the survival of the cholera vibrio, an important human pathogen, has been seminal. Her field work has brought relief to cholera-ravaged Bangladesh. She is currently Director of the National Science Foundation and Founding Director and President of the Maryland Biotechnology Institute and member of the US National Academy of Sciences.