Lynda F. Bonewald earned her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973 and her Ph.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1984. She joined the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) faculty in 2016 as a professor in the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Orthopaedic Surgery and as the founding director of the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health, a center with over 100 members from 27 schools and four campuses. Prior to joining the IUSM faculty, Bonewald served on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, as the director of the Bone Biology Research Program, and as Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Bonewald has been continually funded by NIH for over 30 years and is best known for her work in the study of astrocytes; she is responsible for tools used by researchers globally to determine osteocyte biology and function. A leading expert on astrocytes, she is singularly responsible for the rapid advancement of the field of osteocyte biology. Bonewald has authored over 200 publications, 42 reviews, and four commentaries, having been cited more than 30,000 times. She holds nine patents. She is currently studying bone and muscle crosstalk with aging. Additionally, she is a former president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities. She has served as chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and served on the council for the NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. She received the Basic Research in Biological Mineralization Award from the International Association for Dental Research, the RIB Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society's Musculoskeletal Biolog Workshop at Sun Valley, and the prestigious Wiliam F. Neuman Award from the ASBMR and is an AAAS Fellow. Bonewald received the IU Bicentennial Medal in August 2020 in recognition of her distinguished contributions to Indiana University.