The Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences formed the School of Biological Sciences in 2023 by reorganizing two of the college’s life sciences units. This reorganization will accelerate faculty research and graduate training and better serve undergraduate students by creating a set of unified, modernized degree programs. This positions the biological sciences to help drive OU’s strategy of becoming a top-tier public research university. Historically, the biological sciences were served by three independent units: the Department of Biology, the Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, and the Oklahoma Biological Survey. Through the reorganization, the two academic departments will be integrated within the school to better align the graduate programs and research organization with existing faculty strengths and the Lead On Strategic Plan. The Oklahoma Biological Survey, a state agency and a unit within the college, remains an independent entity; however, many of its faculty hold academic appointments and teach within the School of Biological Sciences. Bringing the units into on school allows for a new streamlined undergraduate curriculum, a broad research portfolio, and restructured graduate training programs. The recommendation to establish a new school of biological sciences came from external review by a team of internationally renowned biological scientists.
