Renee Shaktivel
Staff Writer
ISU has appointed Marvin Schulte as the new chair of the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Schulte has a long history and love of sciences. At the age of nine, he would sculpt hearts out of clay and built a personal laboratory on his family’s farm in Minnesota where he worked as a child.
His love of science was strongly supported by both his mother and father.
“My leadership style is probably best described as facilitation and team building,” Schulte said. “And I feel very positive about what this department can accomplish.”
Schulte’s dream was to help solve neurological diseases, which led him to study the development of drugs at the University of Minnesota, where he earned his masters and Ph.D in biochemistry.
He held his first faculty position at University of Louisiana and became a chemistry faculty member at the University of Alaska shorty after.
During this time, he fought to raise awareness for the need of pharmacists in Alaska and actively participating in research.
Schulte’s advances in Alaska led to the first ISU branch campus in Anchorage.
As the new chair at ISU, he brings over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and research fields, benefiting those in this department.
His duties will be to bring new resources to the university, find new funding possibilities to aid in research and aide students working in this field.
As with any leadership position, Schulte will face obstacles as the new chair, such as obtaining grants and donations and branching out ISU’s connections in order to grow the pharmaceutical sciences and other departments. One of the most important things in business is the connections one can make and with Schulte’s help, students and faculty at ISU will grow these foundations.
Schulte’s first advice to those interested in pharmaceutical sciences is to quickly get into a laboratory.
“Working in a pharmaceutical research lab gives you insights you cannot get in any other way,” he said.
Schulte added that he urges those interested in this line of work to contact him, as he is committed to present and future students’ success.
