Bradley I. Hillman was born in Tucson, AZ. He received his B.S. degree from the University of California (UC) Berkeley in 1978 and his Ph.D. degree in 1986 also from UC Berkeley. As a Ph.D. student with Jack Morris, he focused on the molecular biology of Tomato bushy stunt virus, characterizing the first defective interfering RNAs of a plant virus and opening up a fertile research field in which hundreds of research articles have been published since that time. As a postdoctoral research associate with Andy Jackson at UC Berkeley, he investigated the plant rhabdovirus Sonchus yellow net virus. In 1987, Hillman initiated studies as a postdoctoral fellow with Don Nuss at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology on viruses associated with hypovirulence of the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica. He began a tenure-track faculty position at Rutgers University in 1989, rising to full professor in 2001. There, he has developed a program balanced between applied and basic research, including viruses and fungi. He has taught a number of different courses at Rutgers, including the undergraduate courses Comparative Virology and Perspectives in Agriculture and the Environment and the graduate courses Plant Virology, Principles of Plant Pathology, Advanced Plant Pathology, Introduction to Plant Biology, Seminar in Plant Pathology, Seminar in Plant Biology, and Presentation Skills. He has served as director for the graduate programs in plant pathology (3 years) and plant biology (4 years).
