Sylvia Buffington-Lester, a native of Richmond, Va., is a forensic scientist section supervisor at the Central Laboratory of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science in Richmond, Va. She has been employed there for nearly 30 years in the discipline of friction skin analysis. Prior to tenure of 16.5 years as a fingerprint examiner for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C., where she received her initial training, she majored in vocal education at Virginia State College (now University) in Petersburg, Va.

In addition to her current career as a forensic scientist, Buffington-Lester is an affiliate adjunct faculty member of Virginia Commonwealth University, where she has served for more than 10 years. In 2015, she received the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences Distinguished Adjunct Award.

Throughout her career, Buffington-Lester has been interviewed by and appeared in several news media, including Discovery Channel and the Associated Press and in an article on forensic science in the July 2016 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

Buffington-Lester is a member of the International Association for Identification; she serves on the editorial board of its publication, Journal of Forensic Identification and the Chesapeake Bay Division, a regional division where she has held several leadership positions. In 2005, she was elected as its first Black president and served in 2006 as chairman of the Board of Directors.

Read more about her here.