BME's Kinzer-Ursem appointed associate dean for graduate and professional education
Tamara Kinzer-Ursem, Martha E. Gross Associate Professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, is the new associate dean for graduate and professional education for the College of Engineering. Her appointment was effective July 1, 2023.
As associate head of academic programs in BME, Kinzer-Ursem led efforts for the redesign of the BME undergraduate curriculum that focused on increasing hands-on learning, depth in sub-fields of BME and increasing the computational competencies of students. She also led the redesign of BME’s PhD program milestones to focus on increasing student mentorship, writing competency and scholarship.
Kinzer-Ursem replaces Dana Weinstein, whose leadership helped the office make significant progress and growth in the program during her tenure as associate dean.
“I want to thank Dana Weinstein for her service and leadership in this role. She and the Graduate Education Office team have innovated and grown disciplinary and interdisciplinary master’s programs, broadened participation from active-duty military officers and under-represented groups in graduate education, and have been strong advocates for student support and research success,” Kinzer-Ursem said.
“I am looking forward to working with all of our academic units to build upon these successes as the College takes advantage of new opportunities to increase the graduate student talent pool, amplify research successes and support the well-being of our graduate students and postdocs in West Lafayette and Indianapolis.”
Prior to joining Purdue, Kinzer-Ursem was the head of R&D in biochemistry at Maven Biotechnologies and visiting associate in chemical engineering at Caltech. Kinzer-Ursem received her bachelor’s in bioengineering from the University of Toledo, master’s and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and received postdoctoral training in molecular neuroscience at Caltech.