Shaily Menon will be moving from her position as biology professor to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences associate dean of Professional Development and Administration.

Menon has been with Grand Valley State University since 1998 and has held several different positions including coordinator of the Natural Resource Management Program and biology department chair. Menon started her newest position on July 1.

“Dr. Menon has been an extraordinarily successful leader as unit head of Biology,” said Fred Antczac, dean of CLAS. “She has done a great number of important service tasks for the University which led to the University Service Award, and she is an articulate and trenchant advocate of the value of a liberal education.”

In her new position, Menon will be responsible for fostering professional development of faculty and staff, promoting research in the context of a university committed to teaching, and facilitating design, distribution and management of space and equipment on campus.

Menon’s dedication to higher learning has spanned across four universities in two continents. Attending the St. Xavier’s College and Bombay University in India Menon also went to University of South Carolina and Ohio State University in the United States, where she designed and completed an interdisciplinary doctoral program.

“My goals for the position are to support the dean, college and units in CLAS and help them achieve their strategic goal,” Menon said. “Some specific goals are to Review and implement fair procedures for resource allocation, promote research and develop partnerships with other colleges and campus entities and enhance the reputation of the college and university.”

Menon also said that encouraging creativity in students and staff will help create a competitive edge in the future.

Menon’s impressive resume includes multiple coordinator and chair positions for different university and national programs.

“The range of my administrative and leadership experiences and the knowledge, skills and insights I gained through those experiences have prepared me for the position of CLAS Associate Dean for Professional Development and Administration,” she said.

The new position is only going to encourage Menon’s desire for learning and research.

“In addition to designing and completing an interdisciplinary doctoral program, I have continued to do interdisciplinary and collaborative research with students and faculty at various institutions in the U.S. and abroad,” Menon said. “I recognize the importance of contributions from many disciplines working together to solve complex global problems that our students will face in the future.”

This position was previously held by Jann Joesph, who left GVSU this summer to accept the position of dean of the college of education at Eastern Michigan University. Joseph was a member of the team that secured GVSU as one of the recipients of the Scholarship in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics grants that provide $600,000 of scholarships at the university.

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