School of Life Sciences founding director elected to National Academy of Sciences

Robert Page, provost emeritus and University Professor, a pioneering honey bee researcher and the founding director of Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors awarded to scientists in the United States.

The National Academy of Sciences recognizes researchers whose work has made distinguished and continuing contributions to original scientific research. Established by Congress in 1863, the academy advises the nation on issues related to science, engineering and health. Election is considered one of the most prestigious achievements in an academic career.

For Page, the recognition reflects decades of influential research into the genetics, behavior and social organization of honey bees — work that helped shape modern understanding of social insects and collective behavior.

“It’s wonderful,” Page said. “I feel very privileged for this to have happened to me.”

After serving in the Army, he returned to school in the early 1970s to study biology at San Jose State University. A beekeeping course sparked his interest in insects, which eventually led him to graduate studies in entomology at the University of California, Davis.

There, Page discovered the world-renowned bee research facilities at UC Davis and became fascinated by social insects and the complex systems that organize bee colonies.

“I had no plan,” he said. “I had a passion about something. I just followed my passion.”

That passion led to a career that transformed the field of honey bee genetics and sociobiology. Among his many contributions, Page helped develop one of the first genomic maps of the honey bee, work that opened new possibilities for understanding the genetic basis of behavior and social organization in insects. The breakthrough emerged through collaboration with students and colleagues, something Page said defined his approach to science.

“My career has always been one of learning from my students and my postdocs,” he said. “I treated all my students and postdocs as colleagues.”

Page joined ASU in 2004 as the founding director of the newly created School of Life Sciences. At the time, the university was reimagining how scientific disciplines could work together, and Page was tasked with bringing together several departments with different cultures, priorities and histories.

“I spent seven years building the School of Life Sciences as it was brand new,” he said. “I had to take these different departments that had limited resources, bring them all together and figure out ways of getting them to respect each other and work together.

“That’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my career,” Page said.

Under his leadership, the School of Life Sciences grew into one of the country’s leading interdisciplinary life science programs. Page later served as dean of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and eventually as ASU provost, helping shape university-wide academic initiatives during a period of major growth under President Michael Crow.

When Page first learned about the opportunity to come to ASU from UC Davis, he was skeptical. But after visiting campus and meeting Crow, he realized ASU was building something different.

“There’s something going on at ASU,” he recalled thinking. “This is an opportunity to do something different.”

More than two decades later, Page said it is meaningful to see the lasting impact of the programs and communities he helped create.

Even in retirement, Page remains active as a retired faculty member and university professor. He continues teaching online courses for ASU students and writing about science and honey bees.

He also continues encouraging young scientists to pursue work that genuinely excites them.

“For me, it all comes down to two things,” Page said. “Passion and tenacity. Find what you have a passion about and follow that passion. And the other one is tenacity — stick with it.”

That philosophy, he said, matters as much outside science as it does within it.

“Find something you’re passionate about and do it."