Click here to register for the in-person event or online via  Zoom.
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Dr. Keith A . Crandall,  a   graduate of Mona Shores High School, is the Founding Director of the Computational Biology Institute at the George Washington University  and a Professor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Department of Biological Sciences.  The central component of his work is on the development and testing through computer simulation of methods for the analysis of DNA sequence data.

The Crandall Family moved to Muskegon in 1970 when Keith was five years old and started school at Lincoln Park Elementary. Keith graduated from Mona Shores High School where he ran cross-country and track. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Kalamazoo College double majoring in Mathematics and Biology and then earned both a Master’s in Statistics and a PhD in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis.

From St. Louis, Keith studied molecular evolution at the University of Texas as an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. He then took a position as an Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University (BYU). He moved through the academic ranks to Full Professor and served as Chair of the Department of Biology for his last six years at BYU. He then moved to is current position as Founding Director of the Computational Biology Institute at George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC.

Keith met his wife, Cindy (daughter of Robert and Louise Christie also of Muskegon), at YMCA Camp Pendalouan. Cindy was the assistant cook and Keith washed dishes. Six years later, they were married in the Muskegon United Methodist Church – the same church where Cindy’s parents were married in 1950. Between undergraduate and graduate school, Keith and Cindy served in the Peace Corps in Puyo, Ecuador, Keith as a fisheries volunteer and Cindy in nursing. They have five children, two daughters and three sons: Kyle who is 30 earned his PhD from GW and works as an engineer for the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC; Kelly who is 28 earned her Master’s degree from GW and works as an English/Journalism/Yearbook teacher at Woodgrove High School in Purcellville, VA; Christie who is 25 and has a year left of her PhD program in Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis; Kevin who is 21 and is graduating from the University of California San Diego majoring in Philosophy and Mathematics with a minor in African Studies; and Kurt who is 17 and graduating from Woodgrove HS in Virginia this spring]. All the kids have attended Camp Pendalouan and three of the five have worked there multiple summers.

Throughout their 6 years of dating and now 36 years of marriage, Keith & Cindy have spent at least parts of every summer but two in Muskegon, enjoying all that Muskegon has to offer. They advise multiple funds through the Muskegon Community Foundation, including one that targets campership support for summer experiences at YMCA Camp Pendalouan. Keith also serves on the Friends of Pendalouan committee helping ensure the success of the Pendalouan experience for present and future campers. Keith and Cindy eventually plan to retire to Muskegon.

 Keith’s research and teaching at George Washington University focus on computational biology, population genetics, and bioinformatics of a variety of organisms, from crustaceans to agents of infectious diseases such as HIV and SARS-CoV-2.  His lab also focuses on the development and testing of computational methods for DNA sequence analysis.  He applies these methods and others to the study of the evolution of infectious diseases with particular focus on HIV evolution. Keith has published over 350 peer reviewed publications, as well as three books (The Evolution of HIV, Algorithms in Bioinformatics, and Decapod Crustacean Phylogenetics).

Keith’s research has been funded by both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health as well as from a variety of other agencies, including American Foundation for AIDS Research, National Geographic, US Forest Service, Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturer’s of America Foundation, FDA, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, etc.  He has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar to Oxford University in the United Kingdom and an Allen Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution Sabbatical Fellowship at the Bioinformatics Institute at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.  Keith has given guest lectures and conducted workshops around the world and has received a number of awards for research and teaching, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Evolution at the University of Texas, the American Naturalist Society Young Investigator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, a PhRMA Foundation Faculty Development Award in Bioinformatics, an NIH James A. Shannon Directors Award, ISI Highly Cited Designation, Honors Professor of the Year award at Brigham Young University, and the Edward O. Wilson Naturalist Award. He is an elected Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Linnean Society of London and a Senior Member of the International Society for Computational Biology.  

 The 40th annual Charles Henry  Hackley  Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities, ‘Genomics and the Microbiome’, will explore the concepts of how our DNA impacts our susceptibility to disease and the efficacy of treatment as well as the impact of our ‘microbiome’ on our health. Keith will overview some of the computational methods developed in his lab applied to genomics and microbiome research and present examples of applications on these approaches to a diversity of studies from human health (including COVID-19) to animal health and conservation biology. Keith’s publication list can be found at Google Scholar   and he Tweets about his research and computational biology in general @crandallkeith.

The Charles H. Hackley Commendation for Service to the Humanities Awards will be presented to:

Martha Ferriby is the former  Director of the Hackley Public Library.
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Carol Ann Balcom is a long-time and integral  member and past president of the Friends of the Hackley Public Library.

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THE CHARLES HENRY HACKLEY
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN THE HUMANITIES

​Each year since 1981, the Friends of Hackley Public Library has presented the Charles H. Hackley Distinguished Lecture award to an individual who has some tie, either past or present, with Muskegon, Michigan, and who, in his or her work and life, exemplifies the ideals set forth by the founder of the Library and the activities it embodies. The award is designed to honor one distinguished in humanities (philosophy, ethics, literature, social sciences, and related fields.) The awardee is selected by a committee from a field of nominees. Final approval is made by the Board of the Friends of Hackley Public Library.

THE HACKLEY COMMENDATION FOR SERVICE
​TO THE HUMANITIES

​The Hackley Commendation for Service to the Humanities award is given to Muskegon County individuals, groups, or institutions in recognition of their work in the humanities. It may also be awarded to those who, through their leadership, have advanced humanistic understanding and appreciation in Muskegon County. The award honors those who have made a contribution to the good of Muskegon County through the investment of their personal time, energy, and resources in the humanities.

​The Friends of Hackley Public Library presents between one and five Hackley Commendation awards at the annual Charles Henry Hackley Lecture in the Humanities given in May. Commendations have been awarded every year since 1983.