Frances Arnold

Lore & Background

Arnold is the daughter of Josephine Inman and nuclear physicist William Howard Arnold, and the granddaughter of Lieutenant General William Howard Arnold. She grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Edgewood and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, graduating from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1974. As a high schooler, she hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., to protest the Vietnam War and worked as a cocktail waitress and cab driver. Despite low grades due to absences, she made near perfect standardized test scores and was accepted to Princeton University as a mechanical engineering major. She graduated in 1979 with a BS in mechanical and aerospace engineering, focusing on solar energy research. She earned a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985, despite having no chemistry background before her doctorate.

Reader's Guide

Frances Arnold is credited with pioneering the use of directed evolution to create enzymes with improved or novel functions. Her strategy involves iterative rounds of mutagenesis and screening for proteins with improved functions, accelerating a process that in nature occurs over long time periods. In her seminal 1993 work, she used directed evolution to engineer a version of subtilisin E active in the organic solvent DMF, achieving 256 times more activity than the original. This method has broad implications for producing renewable fuels, pharmaceutical compounds, and other useful biological systems. Arnold has co-founded companies including Gevo, Inc. and Provivi, and holds over 40 US patents. She has served on the board of Alphabet Inc. since 2019 and as an external co-chair of President Joe Biden's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) starting in January 2021, emphasizing the importance of reestablishing trust in science in policymaking.

Did You Know?

• Arnold hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., as a high schooler to protest the Vietnam War.
• She had no chemistry background before pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering.
• She co-founded the company Provivi in 2013 to research alternatives to pesticides.
• Arnold was the third woman director of Alphabet Inc. when she joined its board in 2019.

The Austrian Oak: A Bodybuilding Legacy

Schwarzenegger's journey into competitive bodybuilding began in 1960, when a football coach led his team to a local gym. By age 14 he had already committed to the sport as a lifelong pursuit, and by 20 he had claimed the Mr. Universe title. His dominance in the ring was extraordinary: seven Mr. Olympia victories placed him in a rare tier of achievement, sharing the second-highest win count with Phil Heath. Competitors and fans alike knew him as the "Austrian Oak," a moniker that captured both his physical presence and his Austrian roots. Beyond the stage, he contributed to the sport's literature with works like Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder (1977) and The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding (1998). The Arnold Sports Festival, the second-largest bodybuilding competition after Mr. Olympia itself, bears his name as a testament to his lasting influence. His appearance in the 1977 documentary Pumping Iron not only captured a pivotal moment in bodybuilding history but also opened the door to his next chapter in entertainment.

From the Gym Floor to Global Stardom

Following his retirement from competitive bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger transformed into one of the most recognizable action stars of the 1980s. His breakthrough arrived with Conan the Barbarian in 1982, followed by the sequel Conan the Destroyer in 1984, but it was his portrayal of the Terminator in 1984 that cemented his global stardom—a role he would reprise in four additional sequels. His filmography spans a remarkable range of action and comedy, including Commando, The Running Man, Predator, Total Recall, and True Lies on the action side, alongside lighter fare like Twins, Kindergarten Cop, and Jingle All the Way. During the peak of his career, his rivalry with Sylvester Stallone became a defining feature of the era's action cinema. Collectively, the films in which he has appeared have generated more than $5.4 billion in worldwide box office revenue. He also founded Oak Productions, a film production company that afforded him greater creative control over the projects he undertook.

An Unconventional Path to the Governor's Office

Schwarzenegger's foray into politics began well before his governorship. As a registered Republican, he served as chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports during much of the George H. W. Bush administration. His path to the California governor's mansion was anything but traditional: in 2003, he won a special recall election to replace incumbent Gray Davis, capturing 48.6 percent of the vote and finishing 17 points ahead of Democrat Cruz Bustamante. He was sworn in on November 17, 2003, to complete Davis's remaining term. Four years later, voters returned him to office with an even stronger mandate—55.9 percent in the 2006 gubernatorial race—granting him a full term. He served until reaching the constitutional term limit in 2011, after which he returned to acting. As of 2026, he and insurance commissioner Steve Poizner remain the last Republicans to win or hold statewide office in California, with Schwarzenegger standing as the state's most recent Republican governor.

A Strict Childhood in the Austrian Countryside

Born on July 30, 1947, in Thal, Styria, Schwarzenegger grew up as the second son of Gustav, a local police chief, and Aurelia, his younger wife. His father's wartime service—including combat in Poland, France, and the Soviet Union, and a later period as a price control official—drew significant media scrutiny during the 2003 recall campaign. The household was strict and Catholic; Schwarzenegger described a childhood marked by physical discipline, saying his hair was pulled and he was struck with belts. His father, who openly favored his elder son Meinhard, reportedly harbored an unfounded suspicion about Arnold's paternity. Despite these hardships, Schwarzenegger recalled a close bond with his mother, whom he maintained contact with until her death. Academically average but cheerful and exuberant in personality, he struggled with reading and was later diagnosed with dyslexia. Money was tight, and he remembered the family's purchase of a refrigerator as one of the highlights of his youth. It was this environment of constraint that, in his own words, forged his determination to leave, to become wealthy, and to become somebody.