Dear alumni and friends, Wow, a lot has happened since our last newsletter! Peter Melcher has had his run as chair and passed it along to me. Peter was also promoted to Full Professor; Bruce Smith was awarded Professor Emeritus; Dave Gondek, Maki Inada, Ian Woods, and Te-Wen Lo have all been granted tenure. Kit Muma has joined Bruce in full retirement, and we wish them the best! Nancy Jacobson retired from full-time teaching, but we still benefit from her help part-time. After having been with us as a postdoc, Nanda Cortes is our newest faculty member. Laura Bechtler and Greg Hornbrook are fresh faces on our staff to tend to the animal and greenhouse facilities. Jean Hardwick has been named as a Charles A. Dana Professor, a signal recognition of exceptional faculty. Jean, Te-Wen, and Dave have each received significant NIH grants, and Andy Smith’s research on slug glue led to a medical breakthrough and has gotten a lot of media coverage. As always, we all continue our commitment to bringing exciting courses and immersive research experiences to the current students. More than ever, the Biology Department is a thriving community, and I hope you enjoy reading this news from CNS.
