# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/rita-r-colwell
# Generated: 2026-08-14T05:53:18.851Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/rita-r-colwell"
name: "Rita R. Colwell"
slug: "rita-r-colwell"
description: "Rita Rossi Colwell is an American environmental microbiologist and scientific administrator. Colwell holds degrees in bacteriology, genetics, and oceanography and studies infectious diseases. Colwell is the founder and Chair of CosmosID, a bioinformatics company. From 1998 to 2004, she was the 11th Director and 1st female Director of the National Science Foundation. She has served on the board of directors of EcoHealth Alliance since 2012."
tagline: "American microbiologist (born 1934)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Rita_Colwell.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "female"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
birthDate: "1934-11-23"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           47.76
  momentum:             0.6056129985228952
  historical:           14.89251466666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  55
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "X"
    url:       "https://x.com/DrRitaColwell"
    handle:    "DrRitaColwell"
sources:
  - url: "https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BE_%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D._%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D"
    title: "ரீட்டா ஆர். கால்வெல்"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%A7_%D8%B1._%D9%83%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84"
    title: "ريتا ر. كولويل"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B0._%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%93%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2"
    title: "রিতা আর. কলওয়েল"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Colwell"
    title: "Rita Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_R._Colwell"
    title: "Rita R. Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_R._Colwell"
    title: "Rita R. Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_R._Colwell"
    title: "Rita R. Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Colwell"
    title: "Rita Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AA%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D8%B1._%DA%A9%D9%88%D9%84"
    title: "ریتا ار. کول"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Colwell"
    title: "Rita Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%98%D7%94_%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%99_%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%95%D7%9C"
    title: "ריטה רוסי קולוול"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_R._Colwell"
    title: "Rita R. Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%A0%E1%83%98%E1%83%A2%E1%83%90_%E1%83%99%E1%83%9D%E1%83%9A%E1%83%95%E1%83%94%E1%83%9A%E1%83%98"
    title: "რიტა კოლველი"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%80%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4_%E0%B4%86%E0%B5%BC._%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8B%E0%B5%BE%E0%B4%B5%E0%B5%86%E0%B5%BD"
    title: "റീത്ത ആർ. കോൾവെൽ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Colwell"
    title: "Rita Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BB%2C_%D0%A0%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0"
    title: "Колвелл, Рита"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_R._Colwell"
    title: "Rita R. Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Colwell"
    title: "Rita Colwell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3433234"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump