91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½

In Neena Grover’s very first nucleic acid course, the students needed to learn about HIV. To bring the subject to life, she had the class volunteer at the Southern Colorado AIDS Project. There, the students met people affected by the virus and saw what it means to live with, and sometimes die from, AIDS.

“Students want to learn in ways that connect what they're learning to something meaningful,” Grover said. “That’s the hook of this type of learning.”

Neena Grover

Starting with that first class, she has used innovative approaches in her classroom, combining discussions, research, problem-based learning and service learning.

Grover discovered her love for teaching and education during her postdoc when she taught organic biochemistry for the first time. Despite being told by others that teaching was a waste of time, she quickly realized she had been misinformed.

“The students were so enthusiastic and willing to learn,” Grover said. “I realized that we don't take education seriously. We think it is something beneath us.

“That moment changed me. I thought I'd make more contributions to education than I would ever make to RNA.”

Grover is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Colorado College and the recipient of the 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½’s 2025 William C. Rose Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.

Grover has been an 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ member for more than 20 years, during which time she has shown her a strong commitment to education. She has served on the Education and Professional Development Committee, helped establish the first 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ student chapters and led national 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ sessions on diversity, inclusion and antiracist practices.

In their nomination letter, Murphy Brasuel and Marilee Benore wrote that Grover “instills learning that stays with students. Alumni remark about their growth into competent and confident researchers and professionals and actively point to Neena’s classes as a catalyst.”

“Science does not exist in a vacuum in a lab,” Grover said. “It exists in the discipline as the problems the society needs to solve or the conversations that society needs to have. Science must engage with the society in meaningful ways.”

91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ 2025 award winners

Read profiles of all the society’s 2025 honorees who will receive their awards and give talks at the 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ Annual Meeting, April 12–15 in Chicago.

From receptor research to cancer drug development: The impact of RTKs
Joseph Schlessinger receives the 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ Herbert Tabor Research Award.

Computational and biophysical approaches to disordered proteins
Rohit Pappu receives the DeLano Award for Computational Biosciences.

Leading the charge for gender equity
Nicole Woitowich receives the 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ Emerging Leadership Award.

Helping underrepresented scientists feel seen
Benjamin Garcia receives the 91ÑÇÉ«´«Ã½ Ruth Kirschstein Diversity in Science Award.

Transforming learning through innovation and collaboration
Neena Grover receives the William C. Rose Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.

Curiosity turned a dietitian into a lipid scientist
Judy Storch receives the Avanti Award in Lipids.

Elucidating how chemotherapy induces neurotoxicity
Andre Nussenzweig receives the Bert and Natalie Vallee Award.

What seems dead may not be dead
Vincent Tagliabracci receives the Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award.

'You can't afford to be 15 years behind the parasite'
David Fidock receives the Alice and C.C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology.

Guiding grocery carts to shape healthy habits
Robert Helsley receives the Walter A. Shaw Young Investigator in Lipid Research Award.