Professor receives UW lifetime achievement honor

A molecular biologist who has earned international recognition has received the Andrew Vanvig Distinguished Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Professor David Fay is a developmental geneticist who joined UW’s department of molecular biology in 2001.

Department colleagues Dan Levy, Jay Gatlin and department head Peter Thorsness wrote that Fay already ranks among the most accomplished biomedical research faculty ever at UW.

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors professors with a minimum of 15 years at the college. Vanvig served as head of the Department of Agricultural Economics for 25 years and established the award to honor lifetime accomplishments in teaching, scholarship/creative activity and service.

Fay received his Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1995 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University then at the University of Colorado, Boulder, before joining UW as assistant professor. He has had nearly 60 papers published and has brought in more than $9 million in external funding while at UW.

As an assistant professor, he helped create the molecular and cellular life sciences program, which is the largest interdisciplinary graduate program at UW. He served as the program director from 2005-2015. Since its inception, the program has trained over 110 graduate students from across the world, produced over 45 Ph.D. graduates and contributed to over 70 publications in scientific journals, according to colleagues.