The Mary-Dell Chilton Papers include laboratory records, correspondence, notes, manuscripts, reprints, articles, and photographs from 1947 through 1999 documenting Chilton's career as a plant geneticist. The bulk of the records are from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Mary-Dell Chilton has worked as a plant geneticist and genetic engineer throughout her career at the University of Washington, Washington University in St. Louis, and at Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.
Mary-Dell Chilton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 2, 1939. After receiving a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana, Mary-Dell Chilton continued to study at the University of Illinois, completing her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1967 with a dissertation entitled Transforming Activity in Single Stranded DNA from Bacillus Subtilis. She then went on to complete post-doctoral fellowships at the University of Washington, Seattle, until 1971, when she received a faculty position at the same university. Chilton remained at the University of Washington until 1979 when she accepted a faculty position at Washington University in St. Louis. Chilton's research teams at the universities first demonstrated that the genes responsible for causing disease could be removed from the bacterium without adversely affecting its ability to insert its own DNA into a plant cell. Chilton and her collaborators at Washington University were also the first to produce transgenic plants.
In 1983, Mary-Dell Chilton left Washington University and accepted a position in the private sector at CIBA-Geigy Corporation, which later became Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. (SBI) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Her tenure there spanned both research and administrative roles, including vice president of agricultural biotechnology, distinguished science fellow, and principal scientist. In 2002, Chilton's contributions to the development of plant biotechnology earned her the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Sciences from the Franklin Institute. In 2011 she received the Presidential Award from the Crop Science Society of America. She also received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2023 from President Joe Biden.
Chilton's research aimed at improving the technology for introducing new genes into plants. Specifically her work has involved gene stacking (keeping all genes in one place) and targeting (getting genes to insert at a particular place).
Mary-Dell Chilton was married to Dr. Scott Chilton, who was a professor of botany in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University from 1983 to 2004. In 2004, a few weeks before Scott Chilton's untimely death, Mary-Dell Chilton and her husband completed plans to create an endowment supporting the collections of the NC State University Libraries. Chilton passed away in 2026 at the age of 87.
The Mary-Dell Chilton Papers include laboratory records, correspondence, notes, manuscripts, reprints, articles, and photographs, 1947-1999, documenting Chilton's career as a plant geneticist. The bulk of the records are from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Mary-Dell Chilton Papers are organized into six series:
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries' "Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain" and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.
[Identification of item], Mary-Dell Chilton Papers, MC 00376, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Gift of Mary-Dell Chilton, 2005 June (Accession number 2005-0005)
Processed by Nathan Crowe and Stephanie Horowitz, 2006 August; encoded by Stephanie Horowitz, 2006 August.
The collection is organized into six principal series:
This series contains Mary-Dell Chilton's laboratory notebooks and other records from her laboratory experiments. Many were originally contained in binders labeled by experiment or subject. The records contain a great deal of information regarding DNA experimentation and other genetics experiments.
5 archival boxes
This series includes material related to Mary-Dell Chilton's research on plants, plant genetics, genetic engineering, and other subjects in which she was professionally interested. It contains articles and reprints written by other scientists, as well as many of Chilton's own research notes. The series also includes professional activity information related to Chilton's research, such as grant applications, research proposals and reports, patent applications, consulting agreements, and information on professional conferences attended by Chilton. Correspondence regarding these matters are also found within this series rather than in the Correspondence series.
5 archival boxes
This series includes Mary-Dell Chilton's publications in various forms, including manuscripts, preprints, and reprints. It also includes supporting records when the creator had originally included such records with the file. Thus, some research notes are contained in this series rather than in the Research series. The series includes publications written solely by Chilton as well as some publications written jointly with other scientists.
1 archival box
This series includes readings and lecture notes from courses that Mary-Dell Chilton taught in conjunction with her career in academia. It also contains several theses written by Chilton's advisees.
3 archival boxes
This series includes Mary-Dell Chilton's correspondence, which is mainly professional in nature, though some contain a personal element. It also contains a small number of related records that were contained within a correspondence file by the creator.
2 archival boxes
This series contains files maintained by Mary-Dell Chilton regarding her employment search as well as records containing information only indirectly related to her career.
1 archival box
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to digital files may require additional advanced notice.
For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.
Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111
Phone: (919) 515-2273
[Identification of item], Mary-Dell Chilton Papers, MC 00376, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries' "Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain" and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.