Gustavus is one of only nine colleges in Minnesota to receive the ASBMB distinction.

The Gustavus Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB) Program recently learned that it has been accredited by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the fields professional organization. ASBMB accreditation is a national distinction, rarely bestowed, that will be recognized by graduateand professional schools and science industry employers as confirmation that Gustavus BMB graduates are thoroughly prepared for professional success in the field.

Gustavus already is the top-ranked liberal arts college in Minnesota to offer a BMB major. The College is one of about 100 schools in the U.S. to secure ASBMB accreditation, and one of just nine in Minnesota. BMB faculty members Jeff Dahlseid 90, Heather Haemig, and Janie Frandsen applied for accreditation in fall 2023 to bolster an already well-established program. Gustavus has had up to 20 BMB majors per year since its establishment in the early-1990s, graduating about 14 such majors per year in the past half-decade, making it one of our more popular majors.

Nationwide, schools that offer this major will often offer it as a second major within a biology department, or a second major within the chemistry department, said Dahlseid, the BMB program director. Ours is jointly sponsored by our Biology and Chemistry departments. It doesnt necessarily lean one way or the other, so we better support students with interests anywhere along that continuum.

This flexibility and range of options prepares Gustavus BMB students for career options including teaching, research, medicine, and other industry-specific fields that involve critical thinking and leadership. The accreditation reinforces how our students receive lots of hands-on learning with inquiry-oriented pedagogy, so that students are exceptionally well prepared to take next steps in industry or in graduate schools, where theyll actually need to apply the science theyve learned to real-world problems, Dahlseid said.

The ASBMB accreditation will run through 2030 and was granted because the organization affirmed Gustavus BMBs accomplishments in and commitments to the following areas, among others:

The really cool thing to me about the accreditation is that we didnt do anything different or new in recent years to get it, said Haemig, senior continuing assistant professor in BMB. This doesnt really change anything for those students that have already gone through the program, because we were doing all those things when they were here.

Gustavus has long been one of the only liberal arts colleges in the state of Minnesota to offer a full major in biochemistry and molecular biology, which this accreditation reflects. The fact that the program were offering has been recognized by the external society for the field demonstrates that the education our students are getting in the discipline is robust, said Frandsen, assistant professor in BMB.

She added that even though the BMB major has more course requirements than many other majors at the College, that doesnt keep BMB Gusties from participating in all aspects of Gustavus life in and out of the classroom. If anything, BMB students are more involved than the average Gustavus student, she said. Theyre athletes or in music. They have minors or second majors. Theyre doing it all.

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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad luch@gustavus.edu 507-933-7510

Originally posted here:

Gustavus BMB Major Earns Prestigious Accreditation - The American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ... - Gustavus Adolphus College