Genesis of the BMCB Graduate Program
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In the Spring of 1994, after several years of decreasing matriculation rates in the Biochemistry Graduate Program, John Little suggested to the Biochemistry faculty that we should discuss the possibility of teaming up with the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) to jointly recruit graduate students to the respective Biochemistry and MCB graduate programs. The idea was to offer a larger number of research opportunities to prospective students by introducing them to faculty and joint faculty from the two departments during the interview weekend. Following a series of discussions between faculty in the two departments, a new program was launched to advertise and recruit graduate students for the Fall 1995 class. The program was informally named "BMCB" to signify a joint venture between the existing graduate programs. A hallmark of the new BMCB program was that first year students would be able to devote more time to their lab rotations by deferring Teaching Assistantships until the 2nd or 3rd years in the program. The BMCB graduate program was further integrated in the Fall of 1996 by introducing a core curriculum of four courses (Nucleic Acids, Genetics, Biological Structure, and Metabolic Regulation), a common prelim exam format, and importantly, a double doctoral degree in Biochemistry and MCB. The following year, Roy Parker authored a successful application for the first BMCB NIH Training Grant, which included a rigorous site visit review. The BMCB graduate committee consists of faculty and students from both departments, with the Chair of the BMCB committee periodically rotating between the two departments. Roger Miesfeld, Elizabeth Vierling and Lynn Manseau have served as Chair. In Fall 2000, the entering students were given more flexibility in the BMCB core curriculum with the creation of three separate degree tracks and a new core course in Proteins and Enzymes. The BMCB Graduate Program has gone through numerous changes during its first five years, and in many ways, sets the standard for similar joint graduate programs now emerging across campus. For example, Bill Montfort and Tom Baldwin have initiated efforts to form a joint graduate program between the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics and the Chemistry Department based on the success of the BMCB Graduate Program.
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Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
The University of Arizona
Updated June 1, 2004
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