Type | Public |
---|---|
Established | 1869 |
Dean | Valery E. Forbes |
Academic staff
|
139 tenured and tenure-track faculty members |
Students | 2411 students (1818 Undergraduate; 593 Graduate) |
Location | Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN,, U.S. |
Campus | Urban |
Website | www.cbs.umn.edu |
The College of Biological Sciences (CBS) is one of seven freshman admitting colleges at the University of Minnesota. Established in 1869 as the College of Sciences, the College of Biological Sciences is now located on both the Minneapolis Campus and the St. Paul Campus. CBS is a college that focuses its undergraduate and graduate attention towards research. The dean is Valery E. Forbes and the associate dean is Robin Wright.
The College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota is one of the few colleges nationwide devoted to biological sciences. CBS explores a world of opportunities, from molecules to ecosystems, to improve human health, develop renewable resources, enhance agriculture, and restore the environment. College of Biological Science undergraduates are among the most qualified at the University of Minnesota. The 2008 incoming freshman class, on average, had the highest class rank and ACT scores of any college within the University system.
There were 1,789 undergraduates registered for fall 2006 and 82 percent graduated in the top 15 percent of their high school class. There were a total of 377 freshmen and 135 faculty members many of which are known for their excellence with 4 of them being in the National Academy of Sciences.
CBS Faculty conduct basic research on a range of applications in human health, agriculture, biotechnology and environmental sciences.
In 1887, the Animal Science Department was established in the College of Science, Letters, and Arts. In 1927, it was renamed Zoology. Then in 1891, the Botany Department was created. Eight years later, Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station was established with a forestry training program. It is now the site for the "Nature of Life" program CBS students must attend for 3 days in the summer before their freshman year. Then the Agricultural Biochemistry Department was formed within the Institute of Agriculture. In 1928, Snyder Hall, named for agricultural scientist Harry Snyder, was built to house Agricultural Biochemistry. Snyder Hall is now headquarters for CBS located on the St. Paul campus. Northrop Auditorium was built only a year later. In 1973, the Biological Sciences Center was built to house the Botany department and the Genetics and Cell Biology Department.
In 1993, the Ecology Building was constructed on the St. Paul campus. Two years later, administration of the Bell Museum was transferred to the College of Natural Resources.Then in 1998, Dean Robert Elde led a University-wide reorganization to consolidate and realign departments in order to strengthen biological sciences and raise the University’s national standing. The College of Biological Sciences’ (CBS) current structure grew out of that effort.