Everett Peter Greenberg

Dr. Greenberg received his Bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University (1970), a Master’s from the University of Iowa (1972), and PhD from the University of Massachusetts (1977). After a postdoctoral at Harvard he joined the faculty at Cornell University, eventually moved back to the University of Iowa and finally returned to the Pacific Northwest as a member of the University of Washington Microbiology faculty. Dr. Greenberg has spent his scientific career uncovering the secrete world of microbial social behavior. Due in large part to his efforts we know understand that bacteria use special chemicals to communicate with each other in a process called quorum sensing, and we understand mechanisms of bacterial communication. Bacterial communication controls virulence in a variety of pathogenic bacteria and has thus become a target for development of new therapeutic strategies. Bacteria have also become models for studies of selection for and evolution of cooperative behavior. Dr. Greenberg is also a Fellow of the the US National Academy of Sciences and is the 2015 Shaw Prize co-Laureate in Life Sciences and Medicine.