Eric Lander

About Eric Lander

A leading geneticist, molecular biologist and mathematician, Eric Lander received first prize in the 1974 STS for his project on quasi-perfect numbers. After studying mathematics at Princeton and Oxford, Lander’s focus changed to genetics. He founded the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research in 1990 and became a leader of the Human Genome Project. In his lab at the Broad Institute, which he founded in 2004, Lander developed new methods for discovering the molecular basis of human diseases and conducted pioneering research on human genetic variation, human population history and genome evolution. In 2021, Lander became the first cabinet-level Presidential Science Advisor in U.S. history.

Lander has received many accolades, including a Rhodes Scholarship, a 1987 MacArthur Fellowship, and a 2013 Breakthrough Prize. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Science Talent Search 1974

Lander (bottom center) celebrates his first-place win in the 1974 STS.

Pioneer In Science: Eric Lander - The Genesis of Genius | World Science Festival

Lander discusses his career and contributions to the Human Genome project, completed in 2000. Remarking on competing in STS, Lander states, “Nothing made a bigger difference in my life. It was the first time I realized I could actually create a new piece of knowledge.”

Eric Lander meets with the 2006 STS finalists

June 2, 2021

Eric Lander, the incoming director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, (L) participates in a swearing-in ceremony with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in her ceremonial office, as his wife Lori Lander (C) holds a 13-page fragment of a Mishnah (a collection of material embodying the oral tradition of Jewish law) in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on June 2, 2021 in Washington, DC. Lander was the last of U.S. President Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees to be sworn in.