Murray Gibson has decided to step down as the Dean of the College of Science, effective June 30, 2015. Murray’s tenure completes five years as the Founding Dean of the College of Science.
Under Murray’s leadership, COS achieved many accomplishments in both education and research. Among the most notable achievements are the creation of a new Department of Marine and Environmental Science and the launch of two new dynamic doctoral programs: one in ecology, evolution, and marine biology, and another—the nation’s first—in network science. The College also played a lead role in launching major initiatives in the areas of urban coastal sustainability, infectious diseases and healthy aging, which are already making an impact worldwide.
Over the past five years, COS has also grown its full-time, tenured and tenured-track faculty, and its annual external research funding has increased more than 50 percent to a level now above $30 million. COS has also increased its undergraduate enrollment and enrollment in its professional master’s degree programs.
Other significant accomplishments include the acquisition of the Ocean Genome Legacy to Northeastern’s Marine Science Center, and the Barnett Institute of Chemical and Biological Analysis spinning off a successful company, BioAnalytix.
Murray will take a one-year sabbatical before returning to Northeastern in the fall of 2016 to continue his research and teaching. Jon Tilly, University Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Biology, will serve as the college’s interim dean as the university launches a comprehensive search for Murray’s successor.
Please join us in thanking Murray for his service to both the College of Science and to Northeastern University as a whole.
