Careers Beyond the Postdoc - STEM Teaching

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Learn about the career opportunities for STEM PhDs in teaching at higher education institutes, in this panel of "Careers Beyond the Postdoc"

Join us virtually to meet a diverse panel of PhD professionals who migrated to careers in teaching at higher education institutes, and are currently the Chairs of their respective departments, from three different colleges in NYC. The first 45 mins will be a panel discussion, where we'll discuss their career path, responsibilities, and experiences. This will be followed by 30+ mins of direct Q&A and networking with the interested attendees in breakout rooms. Our panelists are:

Nathalia Holtzman, PhD, Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, Interim Associate Provost for Innovation and Student Success,Queens College of CUNY

Suresh Viswanathan, PhD, FAAO, FARVO, Professor & Chair, Department of Biological & Vision Sciences, Director, Institutional Research & Planning,SUNY College of Optometry

Benjamin Ortiz, PhD, Professor & Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, Co-Director: NIH-RISE Program,Hunter College of CUNY

Biography of panelists

Dr. Nathalia Holtzman is the Interim Associate Provost for Innovation and Student Success and faculty in the Biology Department at Queens College; CUNY. Her research includes cardiovascular development and the impact of environmental toxins on embryonic development using zebrafish as a model organism. She also served for 5 years as the associate director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and served as the course director for the Introductory biology course for majors on her campus for many years. With support from a Department of Education HSI-STEM grant, her team was able to use targeted pedagogical changes that significantly improved student outcomes in this introductory course.

Dr. Suresh Viswanathan is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological and Vision Science and Director of Institutional Research and planning at State University of New York College of Optometry. After graduating from optometry school in Chennai, India, he obtained his MS in Clinical Optometry from Pacific University College of Optometry, followed by a PhD on Physiological Optics & Vision Science at University of Houston College of Optometry. He teaches Human Bioscience and Visual Field Techniques and Applications for Glaucoma and he conducts research on visual dysfunction in glaucoma and mild traumatic brain injury supported by funding from the US Department of Defense and the National Eye Institute.

Dr. Benjamin Ortiz is Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences at Hunter College. He completed his B.A. in Biology at Hunter, earned his Ph.D. in Immunology from Stanford University, and conducted postdoctoral research at U.C. Berkeley. On the Hunter Faculty since 2000, his research has been funded by multiple grants from NIH, NSF and NYSTEM. His lab studies a Locus Control Region (LCR), a DNA segment harboring potent gene regulatory activity in the T cells of the immune system, and its translation to the design of T cell gene therapy vectors. He teaches courses in Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and is a Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded “RISE” research-training program at Hunter.