Marsha Kowal joined the Smith School in July and is a Cornell alumna, having earned her Ph.D. from the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering in 2017 studying the subcellular mechanical cues that contribute to the development of age-related atherosclerosis. As a graduate student she won an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, and a Ford Fellowship. Her B.S. in bioengineering is from the Oregon State University Honors College where she was also a varsity cross-country and track athlete.
Prior to joining Cornell, Kowal was at the University of Houston where she was an instructional assistant professor and the director of the Honors Engineering Program. There, she developed a project-based first-year curriculum to improve student success and retention in engineering. Noting that almost half of the students identified as first-generation college students and the pivotal role of the freshman year on academic trajectories, she also launched the Leadership, Engagement, and Professionalism Program, which matched first-year honors engineering students with a peer-mentor for a semester of workshops.
Kowal was recognized for her teaching with the Outstanding Instructional Faculty Award and the Matthew and Tamara Steel Teaching Excellence in Honors Award, both in 2023. She also earned a Certificate in Effective College Instruction from the Association of College and University Educators in 2022.
As the incoming associate director of graduate studies, Kowal says, “I’m excited to translate my prior program-building experience to help CBE graduate students hit the ground running. I also look forward to contributing to the CBE undergraduate curriculum redesign, supporting the CBE Women’s Group, and engaging with Cornell’s Office of Inclusive Excellence,” where she worked as a graduate student coordinator in 2017 for the CURIE and CATALYST programs.