About the series
The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) and the BIO Broadening Participation Working Group hosted a Distinguished Lecture from Avery August, PhD, Deputy Provost, HHMI Professor and Professor of Immunology at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. This lecture was sponsored by the BIO Broadening Participation Working Group.
“The culture club: inclusive excellence in recruitment and retention”
This lecture will explore efforts and towards broadening the diversity of STEM faculty and address the importance of understanding and incorporating cultural understanding of STEM culture, and the culture of the departments and institutions, to address structural changes needed to further diversify faculty ranks.
About Avery August, PhD
Avery August is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor and professor of immunology at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. He served as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs beginning in 2018 until he was appointed Deputy Provost in 2022.
Working with Yael Levitte, senior associate vice provost for faculty development and diversity, on a range of faculty development and diversity policies, programs, and initiatives, he oversees faculty recruitment and hiring strategies. He also provides leadership for workshops for department chairs and associate deans. He manages the faculty dual career program and the provost’s diversity hiring program and is the provost’s liaison for the Faculty Committee on Program Review, guiding department reviews.
Formerly chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dr. August discovered new strategies to treat asthma, among other scientific accomplishments. His research addresses the mechanisms that regulate the development of inflammation in diseases, particularly in allergy and lung inflammatory diseases, as well as fundamental mechanisms of developing T cell subsets and memory.
In the summer of 2018, August initiated the Cornell University Research Transfer Program, assisting biology students transferring from community colleges. The program offers research opportunities, mentoring, and other programs that contribute to students’ success. He is also the principal investigator on the NIH-funded Cornell Initiative to Maximize Student Development, which enhances the recruitment of students underrepresented in life sciences graduate programs at Cornell, including deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
Before coming to Cornell in 2010, August was an immunology professor in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and director of the Center for Molecular Immunology and Infectious Disease at Pennsylvania State University. He received his B.S. in medical technology from California State University Los Angeles and his doctorate in immunology from Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences at Cornell. He was a Postdoctoral fellow at The Rockefeller University with the late Hidesaburo Hanafusa.
