Cornell University: New faculty director takes helm of Office of Undergraduate Biology

This fall, Professor Linda Nicholson took on the position of faculty director of the Office of Undergraduate Biology (OUB) and she has lots of plans for innovative ways to support students in the major.

Nicholson takes over from Professor Cole Gilbert, who served as the Hays and James M. Clark Director of Undergraduate Biology for seven years.

“We’re working to shift the culture within biological sciences from a competitive to a collaborative learning environment,” said Nicholson, a professor of molecular biology and genetics. “The stress that students are under, especially in their first year, is really unnecessary.”

One of Nicholson’s priorities is to help students who come from under-resourced high schools. “We’re losing some amazing and brilliant students who just decide this doesn’t make sense for them and they switch to a different major. They say ‘I haven’t seen this material before and everybody else has, so I’m just going to go do something that feels more comfortable.’ ”