Dean Karen Colley : 1st GREATS Seminar

Dr. Karen Colley is the Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where she is also a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics.  Dr. Colley is responsible for the oversight of all Master’s and Ph.D. programs across the entire UIC campus, including policies related to graduate student assessment, degree requirements, and graduate faculty membership. Dr. Colley is also a member of the Provost’s Leadership Team.

Since joining the Graduate College as dean in 2012, Dr. Colley has focused her efforts on supporting underserved/underrepresented students in their transition to graduate school and their success in graduate school and beyond. In addition to supporting the long-running Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), she is also the co-director of the NIH funded UIC Portal to Biomedical Research Careers Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program, and the director of the Pipeline to an Inclusive Faculty Program that supports underrepresented UIC Ph.D. students in all disciplines who aspire to be faculty members. In addition, during her tenure as Graduate College dean, Dr. Colley has also worked to build graduate student professional development programming and support services with the help of her team and in collaboration with various offices across campus. Recently, she led the effort for UIC to become a member of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) national network and currently serves as the institutional leader for CIRTL@UIC (https://cirtl.uic.edu ).

Dr. Colley received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Duke University and her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Washington University, St. Louis. She continued her training in cell and molecular biology as an NIH-funded postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles prior to joining UIC in 1991 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry (now Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics). She rose through the ranks to attain the rank of Professor in 2002. She was NIH funded for over 25 years for her research in glycobiology and served her scientific field as the President of the Society for Glycobiology and as the chair of the Glycobiology Gordon Research Conference, as well as a member of two NIH study sections and a manuscript reviewer and editorial board member. Currently, Dr. Colley is the editor-in-chief for the journal Glycobiology and a member of the NIH TWD-C study section that reviews training programs for underserved trainees at all levels.

Dean Karen Colley from the graduate college will be the speaker and she will be talking about Graduate College policies for students. The topics discussed will be selected by the students beforehand.