Joseph R. Ecker

Joseph R. Ecker is an American molecular biologist. He is Professor and Director of the Genomic Analysis Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2011-2026. He holds the Salk International Council Chair in Genetics.

He is also an adjunct professor in the Section of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, San Diego.

Biography Ecker completed a BA degree in biology in 1978 at The College of New Jersey. He then joined the laboratory of virologist Dr. Richard Hyman and studied herpes viruses at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He joined Ronald W. Davis's lab at Stanford University. In 1987, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Plant Science Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. 2024 – ILCHUN Molecular Medicine Award, Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2024 – Philip N. Benfey Arabidopsis Community Lifetime Achievement (PACLA) Award 2014–2025 – Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher 2017 – John M. Chemerda Lectures, Pennsylvania State University 2015 – Elected Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2012 – Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science 2011 – Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute / Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation 2011 – George W. Beadle Award, Genetics Society of America 2009 – S. F. Yang Memorial Lecture and Award, S. F. Yang Memorial Foundation (Taiwan) 2009 - Time Magazine #2 Scientific Discovery of the Year 2007 – John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences 2006 – Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences 2005 – Martin Gibbs Medal, American Society of Plant Biologists 2004 – Scientific American 50: Research Leader of the Year in Agriculture 2004 – Distinguished Research Award, International Plant Growth Substances Association 2001 – Co-recipient, Kumho Science International Award, Kumho Foundation (Korea)