University of The Bahamas (UB) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Susannah Gal as Dean of Pure and Applied Sciences effective 1st July 2021.

As Dean, Dr. Gal will be responsible for, amongst other things, facilitating the delivery of academic programmes and managing the fiscal and human resources of Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS). She will also be responsible for the recruitment of high quality faculty, staff, and students to the programme; supporting faculty research activities; and promoting the continued development of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences which includes the schools of Chemistry, Environmental and Life Sciences; Nursing and Allied Health Professions; and Mathematics, Physics and Technology.

Dr. Gal earned her undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Smith College in Massachusetts, and her PhD in Biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. She has held academic positions at Binghamton University in New York and Penn State University in Pennsylvania, including being Professor of Biology; Chair and Graduate Director; Interim Dean of the Libraries; and Associate Dean of Research and Outreach.

Dr. Gal was also Program Officer for the US National Science Foundation; visiting researcher at Stanford University in California, the CNRS- Mont St. Aignan in France, and the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. Additionally, she served as post-doctoral researcher at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Switzerland and the Plant Research Laboratory at Michigan State University. Her research has included work in plant enzymes, DNA computing, DNA binding proteins in cancer, and promoting undergraduate learning.