Genomics of Neural and Behavioral Plascticity Theme Leader Gene E. Robinson has accepted the position of Interim Director of the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), pending approval of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Robinson will succeed Founding IGB Director Harris Lewin, who is leaving the University to become Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California at Davis.

Robinson holds a Swanlund Chair at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he has been since 1989. He is also the Director of the Neuroscience Program and a Professor of Entomology with affiliate appointments in the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, the Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, and the Beckman Institute of Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Ohio State University. Robinson’s research group studies the mechanisms and evolution of social behavior, using the honey bee as the primary model. The research is integrative, involving perspectives from evolutionary biology, behavior, neuroscience, molecular biology, and genomics. He has authored or coauthored approximately 250 publications. He pioneered the field of sociogenomics, spearheaded the effort to gain approval from NIH for the sequencing of the honey bee genome, and heads the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium. His honors include: University Scholar, G. William Arends Professor of Integrative Biology, and Center for Advanced Study Professor at the University of Illinois; Certificate of Distinction from the International Congress of Entomology; Burroughs Welcome Innovation Award in Functional Genomics; Founders Memorial Award from the Entomological Society of America; Fulbright Senior Research Fellow; Guggenheim Fellow; Fellow, Entomological Society of America; Fellow, Animal Behavior Society; Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences; and election to the US National Academy of Sciences.