Stephen Hales Prize

This award honors the Reverend Stephen Hales for his pioneering work in plant biology published in his 1727 book Vegetable Staticks. It is a monetary award established in 1927 for a scientist, an ASPB member, who has served the science of plant biology in some noteworthy manner. The award is made annually. The recipient of the award is invited to address the Society on a subject in plant biology at the next annual meeting.

2023 Winner: Keiko Torii

Keiko Torii is the Johnson & Johnson Centennial Chair in Plant Cell Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Transformative Biomolecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University.  Keiko has pioneered the field of stomatal development; tirelessly fostered diversity, equity and inclusion on an international level; and served as a science communication champion to promote the importance of curiosity-driven basic research and the fundamental role of plants to the general public.  Her creative and thorough research includes discoveries of key signaling ligands, receptor kinase signaling pathways, and master regulatory transcription factors that specify stomatal patterning and differentiation.  The impact of her research and collaboration ranges from cell-cell signaling in plant development to maintenance of lineage-specific stem cells, influence of extrinsic peptide and chemical signals in cell-fate decisions and patterning, and creation of an artificial ligand–receptor system to manipulate plant developmental signaling.  She has provided extensive service on editorial and advisory boards and in editorial roles for journals, including Plant Physiology and as Editor-in-Chief of The Arabidopsis Book.  Keiko has received many honors for her accomplishments, including the Asahi Prize, Saruhashi Prize, Japan Society for Promotion of Science Prize and the Inoue Harushige Prize.

Rebecca Boston, Chair (2019-2023)
Xinnian Dong, Past Winner (2022-2023)
Steve Briggs (2020-2023)
Dawn Nagel (2023-2025)
Sylvia Lee, Staff Liaison