Head of College of Natural Sciences
- Ph.D. in Biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); B.A. in Biochemistry from Colorado College
- Visiting Assistant Professor at the W. M. Keck Science Department (Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and Pitzer Colleges); Course Coordinator and Postdoctoral Scholar at California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Received several grants for scholarship and teaching, including the Creativity and Innovation Grant at the Claremont Colleges, the international P.E.O. Scholar Award, and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
- Contributed to research at Caltech, MIT, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, leading to several peer-reviewed publications
- Supported students as a Resident Associate for undergraduates at Caltech, as a mentor through Caltech’s Women Mentoring Women program, and as the Coordinator of the Quantitative Reasoning Center at Colorado College
Suzanne Kern is a dedicated teacher, mentor, and scientist, with a longstanding interest in undergraduate science education. Prior to joining Minerva, she taught Biology at the Claremont Colleges. Kern earned her Ph.D. at MIT using interdisciplinary approaches to study bacterial metabolism, with implications for clinical medicine and bio-energy. For more than a decade Professor Kern has supported students’ academic and personal development through teaching and mentoring roles at the Claremont Colleges, Caltech, MIT, and Colorado College.
Professor Kern believes that learning to solve meaningful problems is best accomplished by combining rigorous thinking with mastery of fundamental concepts. Her love of both science and learning is reflected in the classroom environment she fosters, where students practice new skills through discovery, collaboration, and reflection, building upon their collective experiences and individual identities.
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