Douglas W. Leaman named dean of the College of Science and Mathematics

Douglas W. Leaman

Douglas W. Leaman, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toledo, has been named dean of Wright State’s College of Science and Mathematics, effective Oct. 1, 2016.

Leaman is experienced in scholarship, pedagogical and curricular innovation, strategic planning, team-building and administrative leadership. As chair of the University of Toledo’s biology department, he has overseen the education of two-thirds of the majors in the university’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

“Leaman’s department offers programs that prepare students for high-demand fields, feature strong undergraduate research and train students for postgraduate programs in basic science and other health care professions,” said Wright State Provost Thomas Sudkamp. “He has demonstrated a strong commitment to student recruitment, increasing retention and student success.

Leaman is an innate immunologist, specializing in biochemical and physiological aspects of host-virus interactions. He continues to run a successful research laboratory, which gives him insight into current trends in the life and physical sciences and an advantage in an administrative position that requires appropriate allocation of resources and teaching loads.

Sudkamp said Leaman has a good understanding and appreciation of the challenges and opportunities facing Wright State University and other public institutions of higher learning.

“He understands the need to enhance or create niches in order to weather dips in enrollment, to support both underprepared students and gifted ones, to accommodate nontraditional students and to develop new ideas to keep pace with changes in student demographics and approaches to learning,” said Sudkamp.

Leaman obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Ohio State University, majoring in molecular growth and development/animal science. He earned his Ph.D. in molecular biology/reproductive physiology from the University of Missouri.

Before arriving at the University of Toledo, Leaman worked at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center.