Dr. Thomas Ndolo - Exemplary service and leadership with a focus on student success
Dr. Thomas Ndolo joined South Texas College after having an illustrious career as a research scientist. He has more than 10 publications in world renowned journals such as Journal of Immunology and Journal of Virology. He worked as a Senior Researcher at Colorado State University and as Assistant Project Scientist at University of California, Davis. He decided to leave research and turned to academia. After teaching at Laramie County Community College in Wyoming for several years, he decided to move to an area that afforded warmer weather. He came to STC with vast research experience and a great sense of what a community college should be. He joined the Biology Department in 2016, and in a short time has become one of the most active, respected, admired, and appreciated instructors within the department. His students describe him as caring and respectful; he has a great rapport with both students and colleagues.
Dr. Ndolo has been extremely active in writing NSF grants for the department. He is currently the Principal Investigator for an NSF-STEM Scholarship grant that is in its final stages. If funded, it will provide $650,000 over five years to support 40 low income students majoring in STEM disciplines; this is the third grant that he has helped to write and coordinate. Dr. Ndolo is also actively involved in various departmental committees and played a pivotal role in the department's application and submission to the HHMI SEA PHAGE grant program. STC successfully earned a spot in this program, becoming the first institution in South Texas to join this program and one of two Texas schools invited to participate in this year. Dr. Ndolo is now leading the grants committee in preparation and implementation of this program in the Fall semester. In addition to these responsibilities, Dr. Ndolo manages to teach a full load of courses without compromising his commitment to his students.Besides his arduous commitment to bridging opportunities to facilitate student success, Dr. Ndolo is well known for his reliability and dependability. His willingness to volunteer to help with departmental needs is remarkable; he doesn’t hesitate, and immediately prepares to take over courses needing substitutes or replacement faculty. He is truly an extraordinary colleague and asset to the Biology Department.