A Message from Interim Provost S. Maggie Reitz
Based on her vast experience detailed below, I am honored to announce Dr. Gail Gasparich’s appointment as acting assistant provost for the Spring 2015 semester. Dr. Gasparich will, on a part-time basis, directly assist the interim provost in projects related to commencement, faculty development, sabbatical reports, diversity initiatives and community college collaborations.
Gail Gasparich
Gail E. Gasparich, Ph.D. is a professor of biological sciences and associate dean for the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics at Towson University. She obtained a B.S. in biology from The College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA) and a Ph.D. in microbiiology and molecular biology from The Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA). She came to Towson University in 1996, after a post-doctoral fellowship at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has taught a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and honors courses at Towson University. Her research has focused on Spiroplasma microorganisms, as well as population genetics of a local fish (blacknose dace).
Dr. Gasparich has been a firm supporter of graduate and undergraduate research, having mentored seven M.S. graduates and more than 70 undergraduates, including 26 B.S. Honors Thesis projects, nine students from Baltimore City Community College and the Community College of Baltimore, and 10 high school students. Dr. Gasparich has published 45 peer-reviewed journal articles, many with Towson students as author or coauthor. She has also published five extended proceedings and five book chapters.
Dr. Gasparich has won extramural research and training grants totaling more than $4 million from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Maryland Department of Education, and the University System of Maryland; more than $2.8 million was awarded as principal investigator, while more than $1.5 million was as co-PI. Dr. Gasparich has been invited for more than 100 talks and conference presentations on research results, STEM career paths, diversity in STEM professions, and faculty/postdoctoral professional development.
Nationally and internationally, Dr. Gasparich serves as a councilor for the national board of the Association for Women in Science and treasurer of the International Organization of Mycoplasmology; she is a member of the diversity committe of Sigma Xi. She has also served as division chair for the American Society of Microbiology. In 2013, she received the President’s Diversity Award.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Gasparich to the Office of the Provost.
