• Sc.B. in botany at Colgate University
• S.M. in botany at Ohio University
• Ph.D. in biology at Yale University

His expertise has resulted in a distinguished career at several outstanding universities and in industry, visiting appointments at world-renowned institutions, authorship of more than 120 scholarly articles, editorial positions with outstanding journals and worldwide renown in his field. On July 1, 1998, his prominence led him into the position of biology chair at Washington University. Quatrano oversees one of the nation's most highly regarded biology departments with exceptional strengths in the plant sciences. Quatrano ,his faculty and Washington University students collaborate in exciting plant science research with consortium members of the newly formed Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. Considered the world's premier plant science research initiative, the center strives to increase understanding of basic plant biology; apply new knowledge to help sustain productivity in agriculture, forestry and allied fields; facilitate the rapid development and commercialization of promising technologies and products; and contribute to the education and training of graduate and postdoctoralstudents, scientists and technicians from around the world.

In 2004, Quatrano was instrumental in developing the project to sequence the moss Psychomitrella patens genome at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute.

From 1986-89, Quatrano was research manager in molecular biology for Du Pont Co., Wilmington Del. From 1968-86, Quatrano was a faculty member in botany at Oregon State University, Corvallis. His last two years there he directed the University's Center for Gene Research and Biotechnology.

Quatrano received his bachelor's in botany with honors from Colgate University in 1962; his master's in botany from Ohio University, Athens, in 1964; and his doctorate in biology from Yale University in 1968.

Quatrano has concentrated his research on plant development, particularly the pattern of embryo formation and how the pattern leads to specific traits or characteristics of the mature embryo during seed development. Quatrano and his colleagues presently are studying the process by which key plant genes called EM are regulated and expressed, among other projects.

Since 1970, Quatrano has been a visiting professor or investigator at five different institutions, including most recently the University of Naples in 1997 and Cambridge University and University of Leeds in 1998. He has given invited seminars at institutions worldwide.

Quatrano is very active professionally. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, The Plant Cell; member of the Advisory Committee for Biological Sciences for the National Science Foundation until 2000; member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Rockefeller Foundation International Program on Rice Biotechnology since 1990, and from 1991-98 he was Member, Board of Reviewing Editors, for Science magazine, the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Quatrano is a member of the American Society for Cell biology; Society for Developmental Biology; American Society of Plant Physiologists; International Society for Plant Molecular Biology; and the Phycological Society of America.