Emily Buchholtz is Gordon P. and Althea P. Lang ’26 Professor of Biological Sciences at Wellesley College and is currently chair of the Biological Sciences Department.

Dr. Buchholtz is a native of the great state of Wisconsin. She received her B.A. degree from the College of Wooster (1969), an M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1971), and her Ph.D. degree from George Washington University (1974).

A member of the faculty since 1988, Dr. Buchholtz teaches courses in the biological subfields of evolution, comparative morphology, and the history of life. She has also taught in the Geosciences Department and has participated in both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary programs for first-year students: the Cluster Program in 1991–1992 and INCIPIT in 1995–1996 and 1996–1997. She was awarded Wellesley's Pinanski Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 1996.

Dr. Buchholtz considers herself a historical biologist, working in a discipline that lies at the interface of morphology, development, and evolution. Her research interest is the morphology, complexity, and evolutionary transformation of the vertebral column. Animals that have undergone extensive remodeling of the vertebral column over evolutionary time provide rich data sets for elucidating the hierarchical relationships of both morphology and development. Her subjects have included whales, ichthyosaurs, and seacows. Dr. Buchholtz’s research has received support from the American Association of University Women, the National Science Foundation, and the German Academic Exchange Service. She is a member of the American Association for University Women, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.

Dr. Buchholtz has also published on the life and scientific contributions of Dr. Tilly Edinger, a pioneer vertebrate paleontologist. Dr. Edinger, the first woman to head the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, is credited with creating the field of paleoneurology.

Dr. Buchholtz’s outside interests include prairie flora, family genealogy, and the cello.

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Profile last updated: 8/05