By Eva Hill
hilleva@grinnell.edu
Grinnell College has appointed Dr. Beronda L. Montgomery as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, per a College press release and separate all-campus email on Jan. 11. The position was vacated by current College President Anne Harris in spring of 2020, and has been held since then by Dean Elaine Marzluff in an interim capacity. Montgomery will take over duties of the role beginning in July of 2022, the College press release said.
Montgomery is a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Natural Science MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, and does research in the biochemistry and molecular biology and microbiology and molecular genetics departments. She is the author of the 2021 book “Lessons from Plants,” a study of plant behavior and what humans can learn from it with regards to adaptation and social development. Montgomery has received numerous awards for her work, including a National Science Foundation CAREER award and an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellowship.
