Douglas Randall nominated and confirmed to second National Science Board term
Nov. 24, 2008
By Ryan Gavin, MU Web Communications
Former President George W. Bush named Douglas D. Randall to the National Science Board in 2002. After serving a six-year term, he was honored yet again, as he was nominated to serve a second term on the board. The United States Senate confirmed his reappointment to the board on November 20, 2008.The NSB is made up of a director, deputy director and 24 of the nation’s top scientists appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The director and deputy director are responsible for administration, planning, budgeting and day-to-day operations of the foundation, while the board meets six times a year to establish overall policies.
Randall, an emeritus professor of biochemistry at MU, joined the faculty in 1971, when he worked as a plant biochemist in the Agricultural Chemistry Department. His research at the university has focused on plant metabolism; signal transduction; regulation of plant enzymes; and understanding the metabolic interactions between photosynthesis, photorespiration and respiration.
A main theme of Randall’s research has been the characterization of the plant alpha ketoacid dehydrogenase multi-enzyme complexes, including the identification of the genes, the import and assembly of the component subunits, and the regulation of the complexes in various organelles. These multi-enzyme complexes (up to 200 proteins) occupy strategic positions in plant metabolism and are critical to energy production and oil biosynthesis.
Randall’s research team established the first plant enzyme to be regulated by reversible phosphorylation (the addition or subtraction of a phosphate group to a protein or small molecule) and that this biochemical switch mechanism regulates which pathway supports mitochondrial energy production during photosynthesis.
The Plant Protein Phosphorylation Working Group, which is comprised of more than 45 research teams across the nation, was founded because of Randall’s work on plant protein phosphorylation. Additionally, his work with plant biology colleagues at MU led to the establishment of the Interdisciplinary Plant Biochemistry and Physiology Group in 1981. Under Randall’s directorship and MU’s Food for 21st Century Program, this group has grown from nine to more than 40 research teams. Randall has also been active in developing the Life Sciences Center on the Columbia campus and the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center in St. Louis.
Randall has served on the editorial boards of Plant Physiology, Annual Reviews of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology, Protein Expression and Purification, Biochemical Archives and Current Topics in Plant Biochemistry and Physiology. He is a past officer and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Society of Plant Biologists. He currently serves on the Science Liaison Committee for the Danforth Plant Science Center and works to facilitate interdisciplinary research and training.
Awards have never been a rarity for Randall. He has received honors including MU’s William H. Byler Distinguished Professor Award, a Faculty/Alumni Award from MU, South Dakota State University’s Distinguished Alumni Award, Michigan State Biochemistry Department’s Alumni Award and MU’s Gold Chalk Teaching award. In 1973, he was chosen to be a member of the National Science Foundation’s Great Barrier Reef expedition to study photorespiration in marine photosynthetic organisms.