Bassler appointed MOL chair

After 19 years as a professor in the University’s molecular biology department, professor Bonnie Bassler will begin her term as department chair on July 1.

While the announcement was posted on the molecular biology webpage last week, the department has been preparing for the transition over the last several months. Bassler said she has made plans to enhance the departmental curriculum, research and public outreach.

Bassler will succeed professor Lynn Enquist, who has served as chair since 2004. In addition to hiring new faculty members and building the department’s resources throughout his term, Enquist played an instrumental role in the establishment of both the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Genomics and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

While Enquist is satisfied with the department’s progress under his supervision, he is enthusiastic about his successor, who he said has “exceptional energy and is really smart.”

“You get a bag of chips when you get started, and I’ve used up most of my chips and most of my energy,” he added. “Bonnie’s going to take us in new directions.”

Bassler noted that Enquist inherited the department during a time when finances were tighter and that his primary job was “to keep us going.” Due to Enquist’s careful budgeting, she said that the department is now in “fantastic shape” and is ready to move forward under her term.

She added that with the expected completion of the Neuroscience Institute’s new facility, there will be more lab space available for additional faculty in the molecular biology department. However, she said she hopes to recruit faculty with interdisciplinary backgrounds who will be able to share their multifaceted interests with students.

“We’re going to pick the intersection of the biggest problems facing humanity in biology,” she said. “We want to expand into new areas.”

In addition to exposing students to the connections among various scientific fields, Bassler hopes to expand the curriculum to include courses that focus on the cross-sections between science and public policy. She also intends to develop outreach programs to keep both students and the public informed about fresh scientific advancements.

“I think the social contract for a scientist in the 21st century is to have a foot in the science world and a foot in the lay world and the policy world,” she explained. “We want to make sure that the public continues to think that [science] is a good enterprise.

Bassler also plans to enhance the undergraduate program so that all students can benefit from the department’s resources regardless of their concentration choices. In particular, she expects to evaluate one of the program’s introductory courses, MOL 214, which she said is “chronically overcrowded.”

“It’s so great that all these kids either have to or want to take this class,” she said. “But can’t we, as a department, figure out a way to give them a fantastic experience?”

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While overseeing the department and continuing her research, Bassler will continue serving as director of Princeton’s Council on Science and Technology and as a member of the National Science Foundation. In her position at the NSF, Bassler is also an adviser for Congress and the President on policy and educational issues.

Colleen O’Loughlin, one of Bassler’s graduate students, said she admired her mentor’s incredible accessibility and perpetual energy.

“Whenever you need Bonnie, she makes a point to be there for you,” O’Loughlin said. “You never feel with Bonnie that you can’t get a moment to talk to her.”

Another graduate student in the Bassler lab, Yi Shao, noted Bassler’s perpetual encouragement.

“We’re doing science, and the projects might not work,” he said. “But every time I leave her office, I feel more confident about a project.”

Bassler explained that when she first came to Princeton in 1994, she had thought of herself as a “fringe” researcher and a “kid.” She said she is looking forward to the opportunity of directing the department that provided her with the opportunity “to make a mark.”

“They gave me a chance back when I was a nobody, and they believed in me to be a leader,” she said, before adding, “We’re recruiting these young people, and I hope I can do that for them.”