Al Darvill

Dr. Darvill is Regents Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Director Emeritus of the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC), which he founded with Peter Albersheim in 1985. Dr. Darvill received his B.S. in plant biology in 1973 from Wolverhampton University (England) and his Ph.D. in plant physiology in 1976 from Aberystwyth University (Wales). His research focuses on the structure and function of the non-cellulosic polysaccharides of plant primary cell walls, and he has published over 220 refereed research papers. From 2007 to 2017, Dr. Darvill was UGA lead for the Department of Energy (DOE)-funded BioEnergy Science Center. He was also involved in the formation of the Center for Molecular Medicine, and in the funding and preparing of the construction of its home, a 43,000 square foot building attached to the CCRC. Since 2008, he has served on the Board of Directors of the University of Georgia Research Foundation. He served on the National Academy of Science committee to review Transforming Glycoscience: A Roadmap to the Future, published in 2012, and co-edited the third edition of Essentials of Glycobiology in 2016. He has also served on the editorial boards of Glycobiology and The Plant Journal for Cell and Molecular Biology. In 2021, Dr. Darvill was appointed as Senior Fellow of the Georgia Research Alliance

Though retired, Dr. Darvill still contributes to the CCRC, which has become internationally recognized as a leading research center in complex carbohydrate science under his tenure.