Rosalind Hauk Kornfeld (1935–2007) was a scientist at Washington University in St. Louis known for her research determining the structure and formation of oligosaccharides. The Society of Glycobiology annually awards a lifetime achievement award in her honor.
Rosalind Kornfeld née Hauk was born in Dallas, Texas and then grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She earned a bachelor of science degree from George Washington University in 1957.[2] She went on to receive her Ph.D. degree in 1961 working on enzymes in rabbit muscles.[3] For a brief period she stayed at George Washington University as a postdoctoral investigator before moving to the National Institutes of Health as a fellow working with Victor Ginsburg. She moved back to St. Louis in 1965 when she accepted a position at Washington University in St. Louis.[2] She started as a research instructor, was promoted to research assistant professor in 1971, and then research associate professor in 1978. In 1981 she was named a professor of medicine and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics.[4] Kornfeld retired in 2001.[2]
Kornfeld founded the Academic Women's Network at Washington University and then served as its first president.[4][5] She also served as president of the Society of Glycobiology in 1993.[6]
Kornfeld's research laid the groundwork for the field of glycobiology with her investigations into nucleotide sugar biosynthesis and glycan ligands for lectins.[1] Korneld's notable accomplishments include defining the structure and function of N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphodiester alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase, commonly known as the 'uncovering enzyme' or UCE.[7][8][9] She then worked to place that enzyme within the trans Golgi network.[8][10] Kornfeld wrote two influential reviews on oligosaccharides,[11][12] the second of which has been cited over 6000 times as of 2021.[13]
Starting in 2007, the Academic Women's Network at Washington University has awarded the Rosalind Kornfeld Lecture for Distinguished Women in Science.[5] Since 2008, the Society for Glycobiology has awarded the Rosalind Kornfeld Lifetime Achievement Award to honor accomplishments in research within the field.[14] The second edition of Essentials in Glycobiology is dedicated to Rosalind Kornfeld and Roger W. Jeanloz, who are noted as "pioneers in the elucidation of glycan structure and function".[15]
Her husband was Stuart Kornfeld whom she met when she was a first year graduate student in biochemistry in 1958. They married in 1959 and worked together for 48 years; during his speech accepting the 2010 George M. Kober medal he acknowledged[16] the key role she played in their joint accomplishments, a situation that has been noted by others.[17][2][8] Her son, Kerry Kornfeld, is also a scientist and while he was in high school,[17] they jointly published a paper on lectins.[18]