Mayim Bialik
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Mayim Chaya Bialik (born December 12, 1975, in San Diego, California)1 is an American actress, neuroscientist, author, and television host. She is best known for playing the title character in the NBC sitcom Blossom (1991-1995) and for her recurring role as neurobiologist Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory (2010-2019), a performance that earned her four Primetime Emmy nominations.2 She holds a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, making her one of the few prominent performers with a doctorate in a scientific discipline.3 In 1997 she made a guest voice appearance on Extreme Ghostbusters.
Early life
Bialik was born into a Jewish family with roots in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Her parents, Beverly (nee Winkleman) and Barry Bialik, were documentary filmmakers and teachers.1 She grew up in the Los Angeles area and attended North Hollywood High School, graduating in 1993.
Despite her busy acting career as a teenager, she committed to continuing her education after Blossom ended. She enrolled at UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience with minors in Hebrew and Jewish studies in 2000.3 She then pursued a doctorate at the same institution, completing her PhD in neuroscience in 2007. Her dissertation examined hypothalamic regulation in relation to maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive behaviors associated with Prader-Willi syndrome.3