The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has selected a distinguished biochemistry and molecular biology professor as its new president.

The Chevy Chase, Md.-based nonprofit institute announced Tuesday that Robert Tjian, of the University of California, Berkeley, will succeed Thomas Cech in April. Cech has served as president since 2000 and will return to full-time research and teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Fifty-nine-year-old Tjian has conducted pioneering research toward decoding the human genome. His work has been supported by the institute since 1987.

The institute founded by late aviator, engineer and film producer Howard R. Hughes has an endowment of $17.5 billion and funds the research of more than 350 scientists at about 67 institutions.
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Information from: The Washington Post

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