Monmouth University School of Science Dean Michael Palladino was elected chair of the Biology Division and a member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Executive Board. He will serve a three-year term for both of these elected positions, effective July 1.
Palladino has been a councilor member of the CUR Biology Division since 2005, having been elected to four consecutive three-year terms as councilor. CUR is organized into different divisions by discipline, each having a certain number of councilors who are elected as leading faculty nationally for their respective divisions by an elected chair.
Palladino completed a Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology from the University of Virginia in 1994. He has been a faculty member at Monmouth University since 1999 and was appointed dean in 2008. A strong advocate of faculty/student research, Palladino developed the Monmouth University School of Science Summer Research Program and has an active laboratory of undergraduate students involved in research on the cell and molecular biology of male reproductive organs. Palladino has been a research mentor to 79 students. Many Monmouth undergraduate students under his supervision go on to present research at regional, national, and international meetings. These students have won awards for research presentations, co-authored publications, and have received over $40,000 in research-related grants and scholarships.
In addition to CUR, Palladino is actively involved in many scientific organizations. Currently, he is the chairman of the Finance Committee for American Society of Andrology. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Einstein’s Alley, the Board of Trustees for the Central Jersey Blood Center, Executive Board for the Metropolitan Association of College and University Biologists, the Biotechnology Advisory Committee for Raritan Valley Community College, and the Advisory Board for the Monmouth County Vocational School System Biotechnology High School.
CUR, founded in 1978, is a national organization of individual and institutional members representing over 900 colleges and universities. CUR’s mission is to support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. CUR believes that faculty members enhance their teaching and contribution to society by remaining active in research and by involving undergraduate students in research.
For more information on Monmouth University’s School of Science, visit www.monmouth.edu/school-of-science/