Eric W. Grotzinger

2019 Faculty and Staff Impact (Faculty Service) Award

Bio

Eric W. Grotzinger is professor emeritus in biological sciences at Mellon College of Science. From the classroom to advisee meetings to committee work to serving as a mentor and friend to generations of alumni, Eric developed deep relationships with individual students — maintaining contact and friendships with them decades later — making an impact on their lives and keeping them connected to CMU by putting them at the center of MCS’s educational mission.

He joined CMU’s faculty in 1979, first as assistant and then associate department head of biological sciences, overseeing graduate and undergraduate programs for 11 years. For 24 years, Eric was associate dean of MCS, working to increase the number of women and underrepresented students, to raise the retention rate of first-year students in science and to develop the Science and Humanities Scholars and Bachelor of Science and Arts Programs. From 2010 to 2015, he chaired or co-chaired committees that created and implemented an outcome-based MCS Core Education. He currently serves as senior advisor of the University Student Success Collaborative in the Office of the Vice Provost of Education.

CMU has recognized Eric with the Robert E. Doherty Award for Sustained Excellence in Education and the Undergraduate Advising Award and Innovation Teaching Award, as a member of the MCS First-Year Seminar Committee.