Professor of biochemistry Lilian Hsu has been named the first occupant of the newly established Elizabeth Page Greenawalt Chair in Physical Sciences. Photo by Jim Gipe.

Professor of biochemistry Lilian Hsu has been named the first occupant of the newly established Elizabeth Page Greenawalt Chair in Physical Sciences. When reached at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is on sabbatical , a modest Hsu described her reaction when she learned she had been awarded the chair as “Wow! Incredible! What did I do to deserve this?” and added, “I am absolutely thrilled.”

Hsu has been the mainstay of MHC's biochemistry program for more than two decades; has chaired both the biochemistry (1991–1997) and chemistry (1998–2000) departments; has served as the College's sponsored-research officer (1997–1999); and has trained scores of MHC students who have gone on to careers in the life sciences. In addition, Hsu “brings to the campus great expertise about one of the most important topics in molecular biology,” says MHC chemistry chair Mary Campbell, Class of 1929 Virginia Apgar Professor of Chemistry.

Hsu conducts research in transcription, the process by which the information encoded in DNA is copied into RNA. While on sabbatical, she is studying the regulation of transcription to understand how different genes are transcribed (or expressed) to different degrees, focusing on how a specific stretch of DNA sequence can influence the level of RNA made. Hsu's work has repeatedly been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and she has consistently involved undergraduates in her research.

Says Donal O'Shea, dean of the faculty, “Lilian has enriched Mount Holyoke through her teaching, her scholarship, and her service, and the Greenawalt Chair both acknowledges that and provides the means for her to continue to do so in the years to come.”

About Elizabeth Page Greenawalt

1936 Llamarada photo

Elizabeth Page Greenawalt graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1936 with a degree in geology. She worked as a secretary in the College of Engineering at Cornell University until marrying Russell Greenawalt in 1944. The couple lived in Rochester, New York, until her death in early 1999, and Russell Greenawalt still resides there. The Elizabeth Greenawalt Chair, established through her estate and given in support of The Campaign for Mount Holyoke College, fulfills Elizabeth Greenawalt's desire to fund a chair for a Mount Holyoke faculty member in the physical sciences.
“We are extraordinarily excited by the Greenawalts' gift, and are thrilled to have a scientist of Lilian's caliber to be the chair's first occupant,” notes Donal O'Shea. “There is no more powerful means to support the academic mission of the College than endowing a chair. It provides a faculty position essentially forever—guaranteeing excellence and continuity even in tough economic times. Thus, the creation of a new chair is a singular occasion and calls for celebration.” Thirty-one MHC faculty currently hold endowed chairs.
“Elizabeth always appreciated her days at MHC very much and the education in the sciences that she received at the College,” said Russell Greenawalt. “She wanted to encourage other women to pursue science. I was all for it.”