GDCB Leadership and Committees for 2026-27

Department Chair

Associate Chairs

Maura McGrail: Research and Faculty Development

Karri Haen Whitmer, Curriculum and Integrated Health Sciences Leadership Team

Carly Manz: Interim Biology and Genetics Director, Course Scheduling, Student Recruitment, Learning Outcome, TA Assignment

Executive Committee

(Committee elects a chair: 5-7 faculty members at the rank of associate professor or above, including chairs of the Curriculum and the Promotion and Tenure committees)

Maura McGrail (PTC Chair)
Karri Haen Whitmer (Curriculum Committee Chair)
Carly Manz (Biol/Gen Director)
Mohan Gupta
Diane Bassham
Erik Vollbrecht
Raquel Espin Palazon

Promotion and Tenure Committee

(5-6 tenured members, including at least 3 full professors)

Faculty Search Committee in "Molecular Health Sciences and AI"

Term Faculty Advancement Committee (AC)

(3-5 faculty members include associate chair/Curriculum Committee chair, 1 PTC member and 1 term faculty at associate professor or above)

Curriculum Committee

(Chair plus members of undergraduate program committees and peer teaching coordinators)

Karri Haen Whitmer (Chair)
Biology Program Committee: GDCB representatives
Carly Manz (Biology/Genetics Director), Karri Haen Whitmer, Mohan Gupta, and Lauren Ramos (Biology advising staff)
Genetics Major Committee: GDCB representatives
Carly Manz (Biology/Genetics Director), Karri Haen Whitmer, and Alison Esser (Genetics advising staff)
Biology and Genetics Undergraduate Scholarship Committee: GDCB representatives
Carly Manz (co-chair); Jelena Kraft (member); and Lauren Ramos (biology advising staff)
BCBio Supervisory Committee: GDCB representatives
Karin Dorman, Geetu Tuteja and Alllyn Kolar (BCBio advising staff)
Peer Teaching Coordinators: Renu Srivastava, Aron Nakama, and Hua Bai
Integrated Health Sciences leadership: Yanhai Yin and Karri Haen Whitmer
New Course-Only Master (4+1) Program Coordinator: Dior Kelley and Jeff Essner

Graduate Affairs Committee

Honors and Awards Committee

(5-7 faculty, 1 staff)

Culture and Climate Committee

Seminar Committee

(4 faculty, 1 staff and 1 postdoc)

Communications Team

Danise Jones (Staff)

Digital Accessibility liaison

Danise Jones (Staff)
Kyaw (Joe) Aung

College and University Committee Representatives

GDCB Faculty Senate Representative, Chair of Faculty Senate Faculty Development and Administrative Relations (FDAR) Council, Faculty Senate Executive Board Member, Faculty Senate/SVPP Peer Review of Teaching task force, ISU Open & Affordable Education Committee: Carly Manz

CALS Advisory Panel for Engaged Research (CAPER), CALS Faculty Professional Development Assignment committee, Interdepartmental Plant Biology Graduate Program Chair: Marna Yandeau-Nelson

CALS Promotion and Tenure Committee, GDCB representative on CALS Academic Affairs Committee: Erik Vollbrecht

CALS Technology Fee Committee: Renu Srivastava

Crop Bioengineering Center (CBC) advisory council member, Molelcular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) Graduate Program Chair, Scientific Illustration & Visualization Program Advisor, VPR Office Biotechnology Council representative for CALS: Dior Kelley

GDCB Representative on CALS Curriculum Committee: Karri Haen Whitmer

GDCB Lab Safety Contact, Library Liaison: Erica Unger-Wallace

LAS Representative, GDCB Representative on the Bessey Core Research Facility Committee: Mohan Gupta

Genetics Club Faculty Advisor: Hongqing (Michelle) Guo

LAS Faculty Awards Committee, VPR Distinguished Professor Review Committee, and VPR internal proposal review committee: Diane Bassham

LAS Honors Committee: Geetu Tuteja

LAS Outcome Assessment Committee: Carly Manz