University News
Lydeard Named Chair of Western Illinois University’s Biological Science Department
July 13, 2012
MACOMB – Charles Lydeard, a program director for the National Science Foundation (NSF), has been named chair of the Western Illinois University Biological Sciences Department, effective Aug. 1.
Lydeard has served as a program director and cluster leader in systematics and biodiversity science at the NSF in Arlington, VA since 2011.
"I look forward to Dr. Lydeard joining the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) as one of our college's new academic leaders," said CAS Dean Susan Martinelli-Fernandez. "His talents and years of experience will continue the outstanding academic mission of the department of biological sciences."
Lydeard received his bachelor's degree in zoology from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts; his master's degree in mammalogy at Memphis State University (TN) and his doctorate degree from Auburn University in Alabama.
Before Lydeard worked for the NSF, he was a lecturer in the American University Department of Biology, was the management director for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and development officer for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, all in Washington, D.C. Prior to that he was a visiting scientist at the Mollusc Division and Evolutionary Biology Center at the Australian Museum in Sydney and was a professor/curator of mollusks and the coordinator of the ecology and systematics section of the University of Alabama Department of Biological Sciences.
Lydeard's research and work has been extensively published in science journals and magazines. He has also received numerous grants and awards for his work, including several from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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