BCMB Rising to the Next Level
With a department larger than it has ever been, faculty and students are exploring new scientific and educational opportunities.
After more than 30 years at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I have had the good fortune to participate in many parts of this university.
I have held appointments, taught, collaborated, and trained students across many different graduate programs, including first biochemistry and later biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology, as well as cellular, molecular, and developmental biology; plant physiology and genetics; botany; genome science and technology; chemical and biomolecular engineering; food science and technology; and energy science and engineering. I believe I have even managed to graduate one or more master’s or PhD students through each of these programs—which either reflects a healthy commitment to interdisciplinary science or an inability to stay in my own lane.
But throughout those years, the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB) has been my academic home—and, in many ways, simply my home.
I have watched the department grow and evolve considerably. Today, I am especially encouraged by our talented and energetic younger faculty—what I sometimes think of as the second wave of BCMB. We have been fortunate to recruit outstanding people, and I hope they will build long, rewarding careers here and develop the same sense of belonging that I have enjoyed.
More than three decades in academia have also taught me that none of us gets very far on our own. Mentorship matters. I benefited enormously from mentors who encouraged me, challenged me, and occasionally worked rather hard to keep me on track. Jorge Churchich, Kwang Jeon, and Beth Mullins were particularly important to my development, first in biochemistry and later in BCMB. My career was greatly enabled by their guidance, their generosity, and sometimes their willingness to tell me what I needed to hear rather than what I wanted to hear. That, after all, is part of what a good mentor does.
I have also had the privilege of returning some of that investment by mentoring our faculty members Gladys Alexandre, Brad Binder, Fran Barrera, and, most recently, Rajan Lamichhane. Watching these colleagues develop into successful scientists, teachers, mentors, and leaders—and seeing the many ways they continue to contribute to BCMB and the university—has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. I, therefore, take on the role of department head with a sense of honor, responsibility, optimism—and a healthy respect for the challenge.
I also assume this role at a remarkable point in BCMB’s history. The department is larger than it has ever been, with more than 60 graduate students and approximately 600 BCMB majors, supported by an outstanding group of faculty and staff. As a Texan, perhaps it is fitting that I should take over at a moment when everything is already bigger. My hope now is to help make it even better. My goal is not to reinvent BCMB, but to continue and build upon the progress already underway. I want to support the success of our faculty, staff, and students; encourage collaboration and new scientific and educational opportunities; strengthen communication and our sense of shared purpose; and help ensure that BCMB remains a place where talented people want to come, contribute, grow, and stay.
After more than 30 years here, I know that departments are never static. They evolve with the people who make them what they are. I hope that during my time as department head I can help guide the next stage of that evolution while preserving the qualities that have made BCMB my academic home for so long. If I can build on the momentum we already have, help our people succeed, and leave BCMB stronger and well-positioned for the next generation of faculty, staff, and students, I will consider my time as department head very well spent.
Barry Bruce
Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB)
Professor and Interim Department Head