OSU names new Dean of Graduate College
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Tucker has been serving as the Program Director for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington D.C. She will assume her role as graduate dean on August 1 and also will hold a tenured appointment as professor of chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences.
“We are so pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Tucker to Oklahoma State University,” said OSU Provost Robert Sternberg. “Her higher education and governmental leadership experiences and vast knowledge of interdisciplinary research will help elevate OSU’s graduate programs, creating more advantages and opportunities for our students and faculty.”
Under Tucker’s direction the GRFP expanded to 2,000 new fellowship offers each year. She managed a $137 million budget and the allocation of those funds to 6,500 fellows in 200 institutions during this fiscal year alone.
Tucker has held several positions at the University of Missouri, where she started in 1996. Currently she has served as associate dean of the graduate school since 2007, going on leave in 2009 to assume her current position at NSF. She also has served as associate chair in the Missouri department of chemistry.
As a chemistry professor at the University of Missouri, her research has been published in prestigious journals such as Science magazine and Analytical Chemistry and funded by NSF, National Institutes of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Research Corporation and the Dreyfus Foundation. Tucker’s commitment to broadening participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering reaches across all age levels.
She founded the Magic of Chemistry, a science education program, which was recognized and adopted throughout the country. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her scholarly and inclusive excellence endeavors, including being honored by the White House in 2005 with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
Tucker holds degrees from Kent State University, University of North Texas and completed her postdoctoral work at Duke University.
The OSU Graduate College offers more than 200 degree programs, options and certificates and awards more than $15 million in stipends to graduate assistants each year. This past academic year OSU had a record graduate college enrollment of nearly 5,000.