BIOLOGIST

Francis Collins

1950 - Today

Photo of Francis Collins

Icon of person Francis Collins

Francis Sellers Collins (born April 14, 1950) is an American physician-scientist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He served as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, from 17 August 2009 to 19 December 2021, serving under three presidents. Collins announced his retirement publicly from the NIH on March 1, 2025, after 32 years of service. Before being appointed director of the NIH, Collins led the Human Genome Project and other genomics research initiatives as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), one of the 27 institutes and centers at NIH. Before joining NHGRI, he earned a reputation as a gene hunter at the University of Michigan. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Francis Collins is the 750th most popular biologist (down from 500th in 2019), the 6,404th most popular biography from United States (down from 4,523rd in 2019) and the 103rd most popular American Biologist. Learn more about Francis Collins's academic impact at Rankless.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Francis Collins by language

Loading...

Among BIOLOGISTS

Among biologists, Francis Collins ranks 750 out of 1,097Before him are Karl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, Miles Joseph Berkeley, Spencer Fullerton Baird, Erwin Stresemann, Richard Lewontin, and Friedrich Reinitzer. After him are Ardem Patapoutian, Heinrich Zollinger, James L. Peters, Johann Amman, Élie-Abel Carrière, and Alexei Fedchenko.

Most Popular Biologists in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1950, Francis Collins ranks 334Before him are Boris Morukov, Rambhadracharya, Rosi Mittermaier, René Fasel, Arturo Márquez, and Rino Gaetano. After him are Javier Mariscal, Piotr Szulkin, Joey Kramer, Andrzej Bartkowiak, Oswaldo de Oliveira, and Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz.

Others Born in 1950

Go to all Rankings

In United States

Among people born in United States, Francis Collins ranks 6,405 out of 20,380Before him are James Marsters (1962), Otis Rush (1934), Margaret Woodbridge (1902), Brett Cullen (1956), Mary Anderson (1859), and Tranquilo Cappozzo (1918). After him are Camille Paglia (1947), Victor J. Stenger (1935), Scott Columbus (1956), Squanto (1585), Robert Berdella (1949), and Jack Oakie (1903).

Among BIOLOGISTS In United States

Among biologists born in United States, Francis Collins ranks 103Before him are Alice Hamilton (1869), Thomas Say (1787), Edmund Beecher Wilson (1856), Charles Conrad Abbott (1843), Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823), and Richard Lewontin (1929). After him are James L. Peters (1889), Garrett Hardin (1915), Robert Ridgway (1850), Herbert Copeland (1902), Neil Campbell (1946), and Stephen Schneider (1945).