Faculty Resources

School of Biology Mission

The mission of the School of Biology is to provide the highest quality education in the biological sciences to undergraduate and graduate students, and to conduct innovative research that is at the leading edge of our discipline. SOB will carry out this mission as an open, interactive community of nationally recognized scholars producing significant new knowledge and helping to translate these discoveries into benefits for human and environmental health. SOB will assist the needs of the public and private sector through activities consistent with the mission of the Institute

School of Biology History

1960-2004

The School of Biology was established in the 1959-60 academic year. The five founding faculty members were microbiologists and radiation biologists who were employed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), a contract research organization associated with Georgia Tech. The original objective of the School of Biology's primary was to relate the field of biology to other scientific fields. This view that biology is an auxiliary discipline to other science fields set the tone for early years. From 1964 to 1972 the undergraduate enrollment rose from about 70 to 238. Faculty additions to accommodate the increased enrollment brought the faculty size to ten. A Master of Science degree program was approved at the end of the 1960's. The faculty members were interested in establishing a Ph.D. degree, but this was initially not encouraged by the administration. Faculty size varied from 13 to 16 through 1990. Research-oriented faculty continued to push for the establishment of a Ph.D. program. A proposal for a Ph.D. program was submitted to the Board of Regents in Spring 1981. A new Director, Thomas Tornabene, arrived in Fall 1981 and the Ph.D. program began in Fall 1982. New courses were introduced, and microbial biotechnology was emphasized in the undergraduate curriculum. Publications advertised the biotechnology thrust of the school. The first Ph.D. degree in Biology was awarded in 1987. The graduate program increased from approximately 18 master's students in 1982, to 22 masters and 23 Ph.D. students by 1990. In the summer of 1990, Roger Wartell, a faculty member in the School of Physics with a 1/3 joint appointment in Biology, was appointed Acting Chair. The undergraduate curriculum was revised in 1990 to provide students with three areas of emphasis: environmental biology, microbiology, and molecular biology. These areas reflected the research and educational interests of the faculty.

From 1990 to 2004, the School of Biology continued to grow under the direction of Roger Wartell, who was appointed Chair in 1996. New faculty members were hired in all areas, including four Endowed Chair Professors (Hay, Harvey, and Merrill). From 1990 to 2003, the number of undergraduate and graduate students continued to grow, reaching respectively, 332 and 53 by year 2003, with the majority of graduate students being in Ph.D. program. The professional Master of Science program in Bioinformatics was established since 2002.

2004-present

In the fall of 2004, John McDonald was appointed Chair of the School of Biology. The School established the goal of becoming one of the top national biology programs within 10 years, by building around the theme of integrated systems biology. A new endowed chair in integrated systems biology was recruited (Skolnick). A number of changes were initiated in both the undergraduate and graduate curricula to encourage students to broaden their training in biology and to integrate their biological interests with the fields of engineering and computer science. Over the past five years, the number of undergraduate majors in the School of Biology has grown steadily to 450 in 2009. The total number graduate students has similarly increased to 110 in 2009.

Research activity in SOB has dramatically improved in recent years as exemplified by an increase in new extramural awards from $1.8 M in 2000 to $7.2 M in FY 2007. In 2003, there were 28 tenure-track faculty members and one research scientist in the School. There are currently 32 faculty members and 11 research scientists in 2009. The number of new SOB faculty publications in peer-reviewed journals went from 64 (2.3 per faculty member) in 2003 to 175 (5.5 per faculty member) in 2007. To facilitate the integration of the biological sciences across the Georgia Tech campus, SOB faculty have taken the lead in establishing a number of inter-departmental research centers. The integrative spirit fostered by these Centers has given birth to a number of new collaborative research programs and the submission of several new collaborative grant proposals. In addition to these centers, SOB faculty have been instrumental in establishing core service facilities that are critical to the support and development of integrative systems biology on campus.