Posted: September 29, 2011

Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, '80g Entomology, Research Leader and Center Director of the U.S.D.A Carl Hayden Bee Research Center

Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman is the Research Leader and Center Director of the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Service Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, AZ. With nearly three decades in bee research, she is considered a world-renowned expert in her field.

Dr. DeGrandi-Hoffman works to ensure the health of honey bee colonies, especially those used for commercial pollination. Experts estimate that one-third of our food comes from crops pollinated by bees. Her research includes studying the biology of Africanized bees, controlling the Varroa mite that devastates bee colonies, and investigating the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Her research has been featured in documentaries on the Discovery Channel and PBS.

Dr. DeGrandi-Hoffman has published more than 100 articles and book chapters as well as nine mathematical models. She has received grants for her research in excess of $6 million. She also has led the ARS research efforts in the production of two commercially available products for beekeepers: a protein supplement diet (MegaBee-the Tucson diet) and a miticide to control Varroa mites (HopGuard).

She has received numerous awards, including the J.H. Comstock Award from the Entomological Society of America, the J.H. Hambleton Award from the Eastern Apiculture Society and most recently the Federal Laboratory Consortium Technology Transfer Award for her work on HopGuard. At Penn State, DeGrandi-Hoffman received the 2007 Outstanding Alumna Award from the College of Agricultural Sciences and was inducted into the Armsby Honor Society in 2008.

After receiving her bachelor's degree in biology and master's degree in entomology at Penn State, DeGrandi-Hoffman earned her doctoral degree in entomology at Michigan State.

DeGrandi-Hoffman and her husband, Richard Hoffman ('75 Pre-Med), are life members of the Penn State Alumni Association and live in Tucson, AZ., with their daughter Amelia.

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