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Forensic specialist Rhonda Roby, AB ’85, has contributed to the identification of human remains from the Pinochet coup in Chile and the Branch Davidians standoff in Waco, Texas. She dedicated four years in a laboratory working to reveal biological evidence from the victims of the 9/11 incidents. She has analyzed remains of U.S. military personnel who perished during Operation Desert Storm and those commemorated on the Vietnam Memorial. She was part of the team that definitively confirmed the remains of Tsar Nicholas II, the Tsarina, and several Romanov family members. Her most recent initiative: assisting in the identification of the DNA of Leonardo da Vinci.

She has accomplished much of this utilizing technology that had not yet been invented when she first arrived on the Danforth Campus in 1981.

Before she decoded anything, she was a senior on the Homecoming committee who, in 1984, persuaded Harold Ramis, AB ’66, to come back to WashU to act as grand marshal of the parade.

“My parents always taught me that there were no boundaries,” Roby reminisces. “So during winter break, I found myself lamenting my lack of a parade marshal. My dad suggested, ‘Let’s track down Harold Ramis.’ I have no clue how we discovered phone numbers back then — 4-1-1 or something similar, right? But we did. I made the call, and Ramis picked up. I told him WashU wanted him back for homecoming and that we would cover the expenses.

“He chuckled and replied, ‘I don’t need reimbursement for anything, but I’d be delighted to return!’ He was incredibly gracious about the whole thing,” she notes.

Roby’s tenacity in recruiting a star from one of 1984’s biggest films, Ghostbusters, may just be the secret to all that unfolded for one of the nation’s leading authorities in forensic DNA analysis: unfiltered courage, an unwavering spirit, and sheer dedication.

A native of Oklahoma, Roby is friendly and approachable, quick to shift the spotlight away from her professional achievements. “I’m not an exceptional scientist,” she states. “However, I’m a competent forensic scientist who has diligently worked and studied to reach this point. I’ve had fantastic mentors. I’ve been fortunate, and I’ve taken advantage of that.”

An element of that good fortune was her decision to undertake graduate studies under George F. Sensabaugh Jr., who was then pioneering research on mitochondrial DNA, the genetic material inherited from one’s mother that exists in every cell of the body.

In the 1980s, Sensabaugh’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley was one of the earliest to utilize PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology for forensic applications, allowing for the production of multiple copies of a specific DNA segment. This method would revolutionize the field, and Roby was present at the inception, initially learning to extract mitochondrial DNA from hair strands.

Presently, there are over 400 public forensic laboratories across the country. However, as the technology was advancing in the late 1980s, only private companies were conducting DNA testing. At the start of Operation Desert Storm in 1990, Roby worked at one of the few labs configured for PCR technology.

‘It’s never solely one individual tackling a case. A substantial team effort is required to make this occur.’

Rhonda Roby

This led to some of Roby’s most noteworthy cases concerning DNA testing, including that pivotal day in September 2001 — two days post the attack on the World Trade Center — when she was among a handful of forensic scientists flown to the scene. It’s an event she has never forgotten.

Ultimately, Roby would lead a team of 59 that labored around the clock for four years to identify every DNA strand that could be extracted from the biological evidence collected and documented at the location.

Roby’s efforts are meticulous and laborious, but she relishes it. Currently, she holds the position of supervising DNA criminalist/technical leader for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in California. Despite the demands of her job, and the sobering reality that there will always be a necessity for crime laboratories to identify minuscule fragments of evidence from the most atrocious crimes, Roby, at 61, has no intention of slowing down.

“We enforce strict quality control measures to ensure that every detail and procedure adheres to our high standards,” she asserts, “because what we do may potentially lead to someone’s incarceration.” Furthermore, she adds, there are the victims and their families to consider. “I tell my team, ‘This is someone’s most devastating moment of their life.’ This is why I dedicate so many hours to it — more hours than I ought to.”

She stresses that she never works alone. “For every case I’ve been involved in, for everything I’ve ever undertaken, I have always been part of a team,” she affirms. “Sometimes you take the lead; sometimes you step back. It’s never just one individual handling a case. It requires a large team to accomplish this.”

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