Rosalind Kornfeld

Rosalind Hauk Kornfeld (1935–2007) was a scientist at Washington University in St. Louis known for her research determining the structure and formation of oligosaccharides. The Society of Glycobiology annually awards a lifetime achievement award in her honor.

Education and career Rosalind Kornfeld Hauk was born in Dallas, Texas and then grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She earned a bachelor of science degree from George Washington University in 1957. She went on to receive her Ph.D. degree from Washington University in 1961 working on enzymes in rabbit muscles. While pursuing her Ph.D., she would give birth to two children, with her son Kerry growing up to study developmental biology. For a brief period she stayed at George Washington University as a postdoctoral investigator before moving to the National Institutes of Health as a fellow working with Victor Ginsburg. She moved back to St. Louis in 1965 when she accepted a position at Washington University School of Medicine. She also served as president of the Society of Glycobiology in 1993.

Research Kornfeld's research laid the groundwork for the field of glycobiology with her investigations into nucleotide sugar biosynthesis and glycan ligands for lectins. She then worked to place that enzyme within the trans Golgi network. Kornfeld wrote two influential reviews on oligosaccharides, the second of which has been cited over 6000 times as of 2021.

Selected publications

Awards and honors Starting in 2007, the Academic Women's Network at Washington University has awarded the Rosalind Kornfeld Lecture for Distinguished Women in Science. The second edition of Essentials in Glycobiology is dedicated to Rosalind Kornfeld and Roger W. Jeanloz, who are noted as "pioneers in the elucidation of glycan structure and function".

Personal life Her husband was Stuart Kornfeld whom she met when she was a first year graduate student in biochemistry in 1958. They married in 1959 and worked together for 48 years; during his speech accepting the 2010 George M. Kober medal he acknowledged the key role she played in their joint accomplishments, a situation that has been noted by others. Her son, Kerry Kornfeld, is also a scientist and while he was in high school,