Millard Susman
Professor Emeritus of Genetics
Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1962
Address: 2428 Genetics/Biotech
Telephone: 263-5075
E-mail: msusman@wisc.edu
Research Interests:
Microbial genetics, with special emphasis on bacteriophage T4
Research Fields:
Research Description: I do not currently have a research laboratory. My academic life took a strange turn when I became Chair of the Laboratory of Genetics in 1971. I served in that capacity for a total of 14 years between 1971 and 1986, when I became Associate Dean for Administration and Research in the Medical School. I served (concurrently) for slightly more than one and one half years as Acting Dean of the School of Allied Health Professions. I was the last such Dean, since the School was dissolved at the end of my stint. Between 1992 and 1995, I served the Medical School as Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, Interim Vice Dean, and Special Adviser to the Dean. Upon leaving the Medical School, I returned to the Laboratory of Genetics as a more or less full-time faculty member, but agreed to serve on the side as Director of the Center for Biology Education, a campus-wide organization dedicated to the innovation and enhancement of biology education in years K-16 and beyond.
I am very much interested in teaching and am proud to have been one of the founding members of the Biology Core Curriculum, a 4-semester introductory biology course for majors. I have continued to teach in Biocore throughout the 27 years of its existence and am still active in the course today. I also participate in the teaching of General Genetics (Genetics 466), an upper-division course for biology majors.
I contributed to the writing of two textbooks: LIFE ON EARTH, a book co-authored by E.O. Wilson, T. Eisner, W.R. Briggs, R.E. Dickerson, R.L. Metzenberg, R.D. O’Brien, W.E. Boggs, and me. After two editions, this book, published by Sinauer Associates, Inc., was transmogrified into LIFE: THE SCIENCE OF BIOLOGY by W.K. Purves and G.H. Orians, a book that is still in use today. The other book, HUMAN CHROMOSOMES: STRUCTURE, BEHAVIOR, AND EFFECTS (third edition) by Eeva Therman and Millard Susman (Springer-Verlag) appeared in two editions under the authorship of Eeva Therman alone. She invited me to write a couple of molecular genetics chapters for the third edition and generously rewarded my modest contribution by making me a co-author.
One of my new interests is the use of computers in teaching. I created a PROTEIN SYNTHESIS CARTOON, an animation to illustrate the process of translation in prokaryotic cells. I made this available on the Internet as freeware, and I have received messages from a number of biology teachers throughout the world who have found it useful. You can get more information and download the PROTEIN SYNTHESIS CARTOON by clicking here. This year I converted all of the molecular genetics lectures that I deliver in the Biology Core Curriculum to PowerPoint presentations. I believe this enhanced my lectures and helped me to explain complex ideas.
Professor Emeritus of Genetics
Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 1962
Address: 2428 Genetics/Biotech
Telephone: 263-5075
E-mail: msusman@wisc.edu
Research Interests:
Microbial genetics, with special emphasis on bacteriophage T4
Research Fields:
I do not currently have a research laboratory. My academic life took a strange turn when I became Chair of the Laboratory of Genetics in 1971. I served in that capacity for a total of 14 years between 1971 and 1986, when I became Associate Dean for Administration and Research in the Medical School. I served (concurrently) for slightly more than one and one half years as Acting Dean of the School of Allied Health Professions. I was the last such Dean, since the School was dissolved at the end of my stint. Between 1992 and 1995, I served the Medical School as Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, Interim Vice Dean, and Special Adviser to the Dean. Upon leaving the Medical School, I returned to the Laboratory of Genetics as a more or less full-time faculty member, but agreed to serve on the side as Director of the Center for Biology Education, a campus-wide organization dedicated to the innovation and enhancement of biology education in years K-16 and beyond. I am very much interested in teaching and am proud to have been one of the founding members of the Biology Core Curriculum, a 4-semester introductory biology course for majors. I have continued to teach in Biocore throughout the 27 years of its existence and am still active in the course today. I also participate in the teaching of General Genetics (Genetics 466), an upper-division course for biology majors. I contributed to the writing of two textbooks: LIFE ON EARTH, a book co-authored by E.O. Wilson, T. Eisner, W.R. Briggs, R.E. Dickerson, R.L. Metzenberg, R.D. O’Brien, W.E. Boggs, and me. After two editions, this book, published by Sinauer Associates, Inc., was transmogrified into LIFE: THE SCIENCE OF BIOLOGY by W.K. Purves and G.H. Orians, a book that is still in use today. The other book, HUMAN CHROMOSOMES: STRUCTURE, BEHAVIOR, AND EFFECTS (third edition) by Eeva Therman and Millard Susman (Springer-Verlag) appeared in two editions under the authorship of Eeva Therman alone. She invited me to write a couple of molecular genetics chapters for the third edition and generously rewarded my modest contribution by making me a co-author. One of my new interests is the use of computers in teaching. I created a PROTEIN SYNTHESIS CARTOON, an animation to illustrate the process of translation in prokaryotic cells. I made this available on the Internet as freeware, and I have received messages from a number of biology teachers throughout the world who have found it useful. You can get more information and download the PROTEIN SYNTHESIS CARTOON by clicking here. This year I converted all of the molecular genetics lectures that I deliver in the Biology Core Curriculum to PowerPoint presentations. I believe this enhanced my lectures and helped me to explain complex ideas.
