Ralph S. Quatrano, current chair of the Department of Biology, has been named interim dean of the faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences effective July 1, 2008, according to an e-mail sent by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton earlier today.
Quatrano will take the position currently held by Dean Edward Macias; Macias is vacating his deanship to become the University’s Provost.
“Ralph has been an important leader in Arts & Sciences since joining Washington University nearly a decade ago,” Wrighton said in his e-mail to students in the College of Arts & Sciences. “Throughout his professional career, he has demonstrated a strong ability to connect people and ideas and guide them towards a common goal. Ralph will benefit from the strong foundation that Ed Macias has built in Arts & Sciences, and he will be a key leader in implementing plans for the future that have been developed.”
Quatrano jointed the University faculty in 1998 as the chair of the department of biology.
In his professional life, Quatrano’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms behind molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling seed development.
Quatrano earned his bachelor’s in botany with honors from Colgate University in 1962; his master’s in botany from Ohio University, Athens, in 1964; and his doctorate in biology from Yale University in 1968.