Dr. Robert S. Aronstam, professor and chair of biological sciences at Missouri S&T since 2004, has accepted the position of dean of the College of Science & Technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. His appointment takes effect July 1.

Bloomsburg is a senior college in the Pennsylvania state educational system and has an enrollment of 9,200 students, including 2,600 students in the College of Science & Technology.

“Bob Aronstam has made many significant contributions to Missouri S&T and the biological sciences department during his tenure,” says Dr. Stephen Roberts, vice provost and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business. “I thank him for his outstanding record of service and scholarship, his commitment to teaching excellence, and dedication to recruiting diverse, high-quality students into the biological sciences program. He will be greatly missed here, but we know he will make a great dean for Bloomsburg. We wish him great success.”

During his 11-year tenure at Missouri S&T, Aronstam established the Laboratory of Neurobiology as well as the S&T cDNA Resource Center. In addition, under Aronstam’s leadership and through the efforts of the biological sciences faculty, undergraduate enrollment more than doubled to 245 students; scientific productivity as reflected in publication more than tripled;  biotech sales of cloned human proteins totaled more than $2.4 million, half of which was used to fund departmental operations; faculty research accounts were established to provide continuous funding for faculty research; student participation in research more than tripled; faculty created more than 25 new courses; donations from alumni and friends tripled; three endowment funds were established; summer semester course offerings tripled; and Project Lead the Way training and dual credit in biomedical sciences was offered to hundreds of high school teachers and students.

Prior to coming to Rolla, Aronstam was scientific director of the Guthrie Research Institute in Sayre, Pennsylvania, and professor of pharmacology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia.

An interim department chair will be appointed by June 30, Roberts says.