Biographical note

Ronnee K. Yashon--a nationally known expert in teaching genetics, ethics, and the law on all levels--teaches Law and Genetics at the Experimental College of Tufts University and Boston University School of Medicine. She has a law degree and a background in teaching on the high school, undergraduate, graduate, and law school levels. A recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching and the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award in Illinois, Yashon was the Educational Coordinator for the Wright Center for Science Education at Tufts University, during which time she ran numerous workshops for science teachers and disseminated interdisciplinary lessons at local and national conventions, including NSTA and NABT. A genetics seminar at Ball State University in 1985 sparked her interest in law. She then applied and graduated from law school with a specialty in science and law. A popular speaker at in-service meetings for secondary teachers and for two- and four-year college associations, Yashon has helped bring new ways of presenting old topics. Her case study methodology for introducing bioethics and law in the curriculum uses simple, personalized, and current scenarios that involve the student in decision making. Yashon has presented this case study method all over the country. She has six case study books, including two minibooks that focus on genetics and environmental issues. The implementation of science-oriented law courses in current law school curriculum is a continuing interest in addition to educating jurists and attorneys on the subject of genetics. Michael Cummings is the author and coauthor of a number of widely used college textbooks, including BIOLOGY: SCIENCE AND LIFE; CONCEPTS OF GENETICS; GENETICS: A MOLECULAR PERSPECTIVE; ESSENTIALS OF GENETICS; HUMAN HEREDITY; and HUMAN GENETICS AND SOCIETY. He has also written articles on aspects of genetics for the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology and has published a newsletter on advances in human genetics for instructors and students. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University. His doctoral work, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. R.C. King, centered on ovarian development in Drosophila melanogaster. After a year on the faculty at Northwestern, he moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where for many years he held teaching and research positions. In 2003, he joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and currently holds the title of Research Professor. His current research interests involve the organization of DNA sequences in the short-arm and centromere region of human chromosome 21. He is engaged in a collaborative effort to construct a physical map of this region of chromosome 21 for the purpose of exploring molecular mechanisms of chromosome interactions. At the undergraduate level, he has focused on teaching genetics, human genetics for non-majors, and general biology to majors and non-majors. He has received awards given by the university faculty for outstanding teaching, has twice been voted by graduating seniors as the best teacher in their years on campus, and has received several teaching awards from student organizations.