On August 1, Mark Winey began his appointment as dean for the College of Biological Sciences. “I am very excited to join CBS to become part of a large group of biologists studying across such a comprehensive and widespread set of disciplines,” said Winey. 

“I would like to thank Peter Wainwright for his service as interim dean,” Winey said. Wainwright has served as interim dean since July 1, 2015, after the previous dean James Hildreth became the president of Meharry Medical College of Nashville, Tenn.

Winey comes to UC Davis after 25 years at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a distinguished biologist, an experienced administrator and a strong advocate of biology education at every level. “I am very impressed with the diversity of educational opportunities offered to students at UC Davis—as well as the collaboration among faculty and excellent staff. I look forward to providing continued support toward these efforts.”

“Foundational research is the heart and engine of discovery, and it is the first step in producing new knowledge that leads to translational applications,” Winey said.  He studies the genetics and molecular biology of microtubule organizing centers, which include cellular structures called centrosomes that are critical for organizing the spindles needed to ensure accurate movement of chromosomes during cell division.  Centrosome defects can result in genomic instability that may contribute to development of cancer, as well as to chromosome mis-segregation that may lead to miscarriages.

Winey joined the Colorado faculty in 1991 and has served as the chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology since 2012. Winey is a graduate of Syracuse University (B.S. in biology with honors), and earned a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He did postdoctoral work in the Department of Genetics at the University of Washington, on a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health.

He has the distinction of having been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Pew Scholar, and he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014.