David R. Kovar, PhD, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is the new Dean for Graduate Affairs in the Biological Sciences Division. Now in an overlapping role with the current Dean, Victoria Prince, PhD, he formally begins his term on July 1.
What do you hope to achieve as the new BSD Dean for Graduate Affairs?
I have some really big shoes to fill in Vicky Prince, who has done an incredible job as Dean before me. I hope to continue the many wonderful things that she accomplished.
As a graduate program chair for the last 6 years, many of the things I hope to achieve come from my personal experiences. First, I want to pursue having a person in the OGPA office who would be an advocate for students and help them navigate difficult problems such as conflicts with their advisor. I also want to increase funding for students. I hope to work hard to bring philanthropy into the system so we can get an endowment. In particular, I’m thinking of international students who have less external funding available to them. This puts them at a competitive disadvantage for joining labs, in which a professor may choose a domestic student instead. We need to raise money to even the playing field. There’s a wealth of talented international students we’re missing out on because of this disparity.
Finally, I don’t think I have all the answers! I look forward to talking with different people to get their ideas and help them implement good ones. I have the suspicion that my best ideas during my time as Dean will come from others!
What are you looking forward to as Dean?
I’ve been primarily associated with molecular biosciences during my time here. I’m looking forward to getting to know the rest of the division and learning more about what graduate student life is like throughout the BSD. Hopefully I can learn from everyone and provide for all students equally, both personally and scientifically.
What does your research focus on?
My lab has had a long-standing interest in the actin cytoskeleton, which is self-organized into different networks and structures. Each is tailored to a different fundamental process such as cell motility and cell division. The networks are incredibly complicated, requiring a perfect combination of many factors. When I started my lab 17 years ago, I thought it was too difficult to think about all the processes all together, so we’ve focused on one at a time. But all these networks actually interact - positively and negatively - in really interesting ways. Lately we’ve been thinking about their synergy. We are asking questions of how multiple networks get assembled at the same time and same place in the same crowded cytoplasm using many of the same components.
What do you enjoy about working with graduate students?
I’ve always mostly had graduate students in my lab. I love when a student has that first big moment when they have a publishable result. I love seeing the joy and helping them work towards that. I find it similar to being a dad. I remember when I started my lab I worried that I wouldn’t get as much satisfaction out of science anymore, because I wouldn’t be doing much of it myself. In fact the opposite has happened - it’s much more satisfying to help people in your lab have success, discover things, and to see them grow as scientists and go on to do great things on their own. I also love that grad students tend not to be set in their ways, unlike me. They’re open to possibilities and have pushed our lab in exciting ways that I never dreamed we’d go. I owe that all to the students.
What helped you decide to become Dean?
It stems from my love of sports! I played soccer growing up and in college. I’ve always viewed science as being on an athletic team or orchestra or anything you would do as part of a group. I’m really excited about collaboration and teamwork, which is a big reason that led me to want to be Dean - I’m interested in bringing groups of people together as a team to accomplish common goals. I think collaboration is really critical for the scientific enterprise and I like to work with other labs inside and outside of my departments. I view sports, my science, mentoring of students, being program chair and now Dean in the same light - we need to work together and help each other. That’s the way to make the most progress.
As for sports, now I spend most of my free time coaching or watching my kids play. They’re heavily into soccer, basketball, and volleyball. That’s my self care - spending time with my kids and watching them play sports. Though mostly I try to stay out of their way!
