Frank Bartol
Adjunct Professor - Animal Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine

An architect of the Auburn University Cellular and Molecular Biosciences program, Frank F. Bartol joined the Auburn University faculty in 1983. He served as the program's first director from 2001 until his appointment as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Veterinary Medicine in July 2009. Bartol received the bachelor of science degree from Virginia Tech, masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Florida through the Interdisciplinary Reproductive Biology program, and advanced training in molecular biology in the Center for Animal Biotechnology at Texas A&M University. Bartol's research focuses on factors affecting development and function of the female reproductive tract, with emphasis on reproductive health in domestic ungulate species. He has received grants from the USDA and NSF, in addition to those from private and international agencies. Notable interdisciplinary advances realized through his research include development of the "uterine gland knockout" model and promulgation of the "lactocrine hypothesis" for maternal programming of neonatal somatic tissues. In 2005, Bartol was named "Donald Henry Barron Lecturer" by the UF-IRB program "for research and scholarly activities in the field of reproductive biology." Recognized internationally as an outspoken advocate of the responsible use of animals in research and education, Bartol has also developed and implemented unique educational programs to engage both high school and undergraduate students in life science research.

Curtis Jolly
Professor - Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology
College of Agriculture

Curtis Jolly was selected as one of the top ten black agricultural economists by the American Agricultural Economics Society. He received his bachelor of science from Tuskegee University, masters in agricultural economics from Auburn University, and his doctorate in agricultural economics from Louisiana State University. He has more than 25 years experience in the Caribbean and Africa. He was honored by the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources in Sadovo, Bulgaria, for his contribution to the marketing of peanuts in that country. Jolly received The United Nations Association-USA Greater Birmingham Chapter International Educator Award in 2007, and the Auburn Alumni Outstanding Minority Achievement Award in 2008. Auburn, he represented the university for a United States Agency International Development project in the Department of Farming Systems and Technology Transfer at the Institut Senegalais de Recherche Agricoles in Francophone, Africa. He also served as Farming Systems Economist on a similar project at the Institut d'Economie Rurale in Mali. He has published 80 scientific, referred articles, eight book chapters, and one text book. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Auburn University Credit Union, overseas representative of the Caribbean Agricultural Economics Society, and member of the American Agricultural Economics Association.

Mary Mendonca
Alumni Professor - Biological Sciences
College of Sciences and Mathematics

Mary Mendonca was raised in the projects of Newark, N.J., and attended Rutgers University-Newark where she was inspired by a great teacher and mentor to pursue basic research in biology. She received a master of science degree from the University of Central Florida where her research interest was on green sea turtle ecology in the lagoons surrounding the Kennedy Space Center, and her doctorate from the University of California-Berkeley for research in reproductive endocrinology of reptiles. She also earned two post-doctoral fellowships, one at the University of Western Australia studying the physiological ecology of desert lizards, the other at the University of Texas-Austin for research on the neuroendocrinology of reproductive behavior in snakes. Mendonca came to Auburn 17 years ago and established a laboratory to research the reproductive and stress physiology and ecoimmunology of a number of model organisms (bats, birds, reptiles, and amphibians). She teaches in Human Anatomy and Physiology in the Department of Biology as well as the Human Odyssey program in the Honors College. More than 190 undergraduates have conducted biological research in her laboratory, with almost half going on to professional or graduate schools.

Subhash Sinha
Professor - Mechanical Engineering
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering