A Jamaican, Patricia DeLeon completed her bachelor of science (BSc) degree in natural sciences (with honours) in July 1967 and her MSc in December 1969 in the Department of Pathology, both from the University of the West Indies, (UWI) Mona campus. In October 1972, she earned a PhD from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada and pursued post-doctoral studies at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec until 1975. In 1976 she joined the faculty at the University of Delaware where she is currently the Trustees Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, a title conferred on deserving senior members of faculty. She has also been a visiting scientist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and was an adjunct professor at Penn State University College of Medicine.

research on genetics

Professor DeLeon is known internationally for her research on genetics. Her research interests include the genetic and molecular mechanisms of spermatogenesis, epididymal function and the molecular aspects of fertilisation.

Patricia DeLeon was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Mentoring Symposium of the American Society of Andrology in 2006 and at the Mentoring Symposium of the Society for the Study of Reproduction in 2008. She has served as chairperson of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and on the President's Commission on the Status of Women at UD.

A 1996 nominee for the Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Award, Professor DeLeon now has three patents issued or pending, and her research has been supported by both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She has received many honours and awards, including the National Science Foundation Career Advancement Award and the Medical Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship.

UWI Mona congratulates Professor DeLeon on this sterling achievement, built on the solid foundation which is the hallmark of the institution and which has propelled so many of our graduates to attain significant heights at home and abroad.