 | Dr. Norma M. Allewell is Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, where she served as Interim Vice President for Research and Dean of the College of Chemical and Life Sciences for a decade. She has also held faculty positions at the University of Minnesota, where she was a department head and vice provost; Wesleyan University, where she was founding chair of a department; and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. She was an instructor in summer courses at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. Dr. Allewell holds a B.Sc. (Hon.) from McMaster University and a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics from Yale University. Her research focuses on protein structure, function, and dynamics; and metabolic regulatory mechanisms and diseases. She is a Past President of the Biophysical Society and a former U.S. representative to the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics. She was a member of a delegation from the University of Maryland to Peking University and served on a review committee for the Institute of Molecular Biology of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and has served on the National Academy’s Committee on Space Biology and Medicine; the Board of Scientific Advisors for the National Center for Biotechnology Information; and the Advisory Committee, Directorate of Biological Sciences, National Science Foundation, as well as numerous review panels for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is series editor for the Biophysics for the Life Sciences series, published by Springer. State Department Profile Office of Regional and Security Policy
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Norma Allewell was a Senior Science and Technology Advisor in the Office of Regional and Security Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the State Department. In this role, she was involved at some level in all activities and issues in science and technology in the Bureau and worked closely with all of the desks in the Bureau. Within DoS, Dr. Allewell was EAP’s liaison to Bureau of Oceans and International Scientific and Environmental Affairs (OES), and also had frequent interactions with other bureaus, particularly the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB) and the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN). She also liaised with numerous federal agencies and organizations, including HHS, various branches of the DoD, DoE, EPA, NASA, NSF, NOAA, OSTP, and USAID. She was engaged in preparing briefing papers for DoS leadership, and reviewing bilateral and multilateral agreements that involve science and technology. She initiated and maintained a biweekly East Asia and Pacific Science and Technology Newsletter based on unclassified cables and other sources that has broad circulation within the Bureau. Dr. Allewell worked on specific projects in several different areas, including bioengagement and biosecurity, biodiversity, climate change and adaptation, cybersecurity, marine debris, and nuclear security, Dr. Allewell also took advantage of the opportunity to attend several relevant programs and presentations offered by the State Department and NGOs. |
