Rate My Professor Bonnie Bassler

Bonnie L. Bassler is the Squibb Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, holding the Andrew K. Golden University Professorship and serving as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The Johns Hopkins University in 1990, completing postdoctoral training as a Fellow and Research Scientist at the Agouron Institute from 1990 to 1994. Bassler joined Princeton University in 1994 as Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, promoted to Associate Professor in 2000 and Professor in 2003. She became Department Chair in 2013, and has held additional appointments including Director of Graduate Studies (2003-2008), Associated Faculty in Chemistry (2010-present), President of the American Society for Microbiology (2010-2011), and member of the National Science Board (2010-2016). She has also served on numerous editorial boards, including Chief Editor of Annual Review of Genetics (2006-2015) and Associate Editor of Cell (2008-2014).

Bassler's research investigates quorum sensing, the bacterial cell-to-cell signaling system regulating collective behaviors such as bioluminescence, virulence, biofilm formation, and phage interactions. Her foundational work on Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio cholerae has revealed parallel quorum-sensing circuits, autoinducers like AI-2, and roles of small RNAs and chaperones in signal integration. Landmark publications include "Quorum sensing in bacteria" (Annual Review of Microbiology, 2001), "Quorum sensing: cell-to-cell communication in bacteria" (Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, 2005), "Bacterial quorum-sensing network architectures" (Annual Review of Genetics, 2009), and recent papers such as "Quorum-sensing control of matrix protein production drives fractal wrinkling..." (Nature Communications, 2022). Her discoveries have reshaped understanding of microbial communication, enabling development of anti-virulence therapies. Bassler has received the MacArthur Fellowship (2002), Wiley Prize (2009), Shaw Prize (2015), Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2022), Canada Gairdner International Award (2023), Princess of Asturias Award (2023), National Medal of Science (2024), and John Scott Award (2025), among many others. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and foreign member of the Royal Society.