Professor Stephen (Steve) L. Mayo

Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry

B.S., Pennsylvania State University, 1983; Ph.D., Caltech, 1987. Senior Research Fellow, 1991-92; Assistant Professor, 1992-98; Associate Professor, 1998-2003; Professor, 2003-07; Bren Professor, 2007-. HHMI Assistant Investigator, 1994-2000; HHMI Associate Investigator, 2000-05; HHMI Investigator, 2005-07; Executive Officer for Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, 2004-07; Vice Provost, 2007-10; Division Chair, 2010-12; Bowes Jr. Leadership Chair, 2012-2020.

Steve Mayo is a Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He holds joint appointments in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Dr. Mayo has been a member of the Caltech faculty since 1992 and served as Vice Provost for Research from 2007 to 2010 and Chair of the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering from 2010 to 2020. Mayo's research focuses on the development of computational approaches to protein engineering -- a field that has broad applications ranging from advanced biofuels to human therapeutics. He co-founded: Molecular Simulations Inc. (formerly Accelrys currently Biovia), a computational chemistry company; Xencor, a publicly traded bio-therapeutics company; and, Protabit, a privately held protein engineering company. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004 for his pioneering contributions in the field of protein design and was appointed by President Obama in March of 2013 to the National Science Board. Recently, Steve has been elected to be Board of Director for Merck (2021), Sarepta Therapeutics (2021) and Allogene Therapeutics (2022). He also serves on an Advisory Board for RubrYc Therapeutics. Recently in 2022, Steve was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech.

Selected Honors and Awards

1988-1989       Miller Research Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley
1993-1998       Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award
1993-1998       David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship
1994-1997       Searle Scholar Award
1997                Johnson Foundation Prize for Innovative Research in Structural Biology
2004                Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences
2008-2013      National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship
2014                Pennsylvania State University Distinguished Alumni Award