The Genetics Society of America is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of its GSA Awards for distinguished service in the field of genetics. The awardees were nominated by their colleagues and selected by the Board of Directors. They will be recognized with presentations at GSA Conferences in 2025 and 2026, including the upcoming 66th Annual Drosophila Research Conference and the 25th International Worm Meeting. Throughout the rest of the year, a series of profiles published in Genes to Genomes and virtual awards seminars will provide more insight into their inspiring careers.

The 2025 recipients are recognized for a broad range of critical contributions to science, including scientific discoveries, mentoring, creation of community resources, and education. 

The 2025 awardees are:

Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal
for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics

Joanne Chory †
Salk Institute for Biological Studies, HHMI

Chory is recognized as a leader and pioneer in the field of plant biology, and as a globally renowned researcher studying the signaling pathways behind plant adaptation to environmental change. Chory’s scientific contributions include determining the 3D structure of the cytokine and Karrikin receptors that are active in plant organ formation and germination; elucidating the growth pathways associated with the plant hormones auxin and brassinosteroids; discovering that plants make and respond to a steroid hormone to control their final size through mapping the entire plant steroid hormone signaling system; demonstrating that Arabidopsis genes have peak expression at certain times of the day, which shift depending on their environment; and identifying new regulatory modules that control time-of-day–specific expression, among many others. Chory is being honored for her commitment to community building and mentoring, having inspired generations of young plant biologists and mentored more than 125 students and over 100 postdocs, almost half of whom were women. 

Genetics Society of America Mentorship Award
for excellence in contributions to the mentorship of geneticists

Brandon Gaut
University of California, Irvine

As the inaugural recipient of this new GSA Award, Gaut is being recognized for the mentorship of PhD students and postdocs in his lab and for being a dedicated advocate for mentees as an administrator at University of California, Irvine and as president of SMBE where he helped implement an impactful child support policy for conferences. This award also recognizes Gaut’s commitment to fostering an inclusive environment and work-life balance for his students. 

George W. Beadle Award
for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers

Sudhir Kumar
Temple University 

Kumar is being honored for his extensive scientific contributions, notably his efforts to democratize evolutionary genetics, his commitment to breaking down barriers to scientific inquiry globally, and his advocacy for open science. This recognition highlights the creation, dissemination, and modernization of the MEGA program which makes complex evolutionary analyses accessible. The award also spotlights significant contributions to developing the TimeTree online platform of species divergence times. 

Edward Novitski Prize
for extraordinary creativity and intellectual ingenuity in genetics research

Kevin Struhl
Harvard Medical School

Struhl is being recognized for his pioneering work cloning a functional eukaryotic gene in E. coli, defining its promoter and regulatory region, and using random DNA and amino acid sequences to define determinants of specificity. The award also recognizes other key scientific contributions including Struhl’s discovery of the sequences and protein interactions required for transcriptional activation and repression and demonstrating the importance of nucleosome-free regions for transcription initiation, among others. 

Genetics Society of America Medal
for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics 

Noah Whiteman
University of California, Berkeley

Whiteman is recognized for his impactful contributions to the field through genetic and evolutionary studies on herbivorous insects, their host plants, and their natural enemies. Additionally, his use of genetic tools, including genome editing, has led to a better understanding of herbivore resistance in plants and plant defenses. His insightful leadership allowed for the retracing of the adaptive walk taken by the monarch butterfly’s lineage over many years resulting from a study that used CRISPR-Cas9 to characterize candidate toxin resistance mutations from the monarch butterfly into Drosophila melanogaster.

Elizabeth W. Jones Award
for excellence in education

Jason Williams
DNA Learning Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Williams is being recognized for his extensive educational efforts in the field of genetics including co-developing DNA barcoding and DNA Subway curricula and software, creating tools for educators and researchers, and bringing DNA analysis to high school and undergraduate students. This award also recognizes Williams’s work leading the largest national study on undergraduate educators to review barriers in teaching bioinformatics and the development of a new framework for effective and inclusive professional development, as well as the creation of STARS, a mentorship program to promote full participation in STEM for high school students, and a national network of undergraduate faculty to integrate nanopore sequencing into course-based research experiences. 

Genetics Society of America Early Career Medal
for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics 

Shinya Yamamoto
Baylor College of Medicine

Yamamoto is being recognized for pioneering the use of Drosophila to discover new human genes and variants responsible for rare genetic diseases, for introducing a functional genomics approach to study genes and variants linked to common conditions like autism and Alzheimer’s disease, and for establishing genetic tools to study emerging infectious diseases. Yamamoto’s efforts to support and mentor students focusing on their individual potentials and needs are also admirable.   

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