Michael Griswold, director and professor at the School of Molecular Biosciences, has accepted an invitation from Provost Robert Bates to interview for the position of dean of the College of Sciences. Griswold has served as interim dean of the College of Sciences since Aug. 1, 2002.
The search for a new dean began Aug. 2, 2002, and netted more than 30 applicants. The field was reviewed by a search committee, headed by Anjan Bose, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture, and was reduced to eight recommended candidates. Initially, three of those were invited to campus and interviewed in April and May. This week, Bates extended the interview process to include Griswold, who was among the eight recommended by the search committee.
Griswold joined the faculty at WSU in 1976. He has served WSU in several administrative roles including chair of the Biochemistry and Biophysics program from 1986-89, acting dean of the Division of Sciences from 1989-90, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics from 1990-94, and director of the School of Molecular Biosciences since 1999.
Griswold is recognized as one of the leading authorities in the study of male reproductive biology, specifically, the role of the Sertoli cell in sperm cell development. He has received a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health and has served as president of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. He gave the keynote address at the 1999 Gordon Research Conference. Griswold also won WSU’s Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship and Arts in 1998-99.
Griswold earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Wyoming and held the Edward R. Meyer Professorship in Science from Aug. 1995 – Aug. 1998.
Griswold’s open seminar/interview is slated for 2:30 – 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at the Morrow Center, Room 52, and will be broadcast via Washington Higher Education Telecommunication System (WHETS) to the Intercollegiate College of Nursing Room 214, Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI) Room 317, WSU Tri-Cities Room 209 W, WSU Vancouver Room CL117.
The other three candidates who have been interviewed include:
• Laura J. Jenski, professor and head of the division of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, since December 2000. From 1996 to 2000, she was the associate chair of the department of biology, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. She has a B.S. and M.S. in biology from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in oncology from the University of Wisconsin.
• Paul F. Agris, professor of biochemistry and chairman of the RNA biology faculty, North Carolina State University. Agris has a B.S. in biology and chemistry from Bucknell University, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Gordon Gordh Jr., director for the Center for Plant Health Service and Technology, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Raleigh, N.C. Gordh earned a B.A. in history from the University of Colorado, an M.S. in entomology from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. at the University of California Riverside.
