Brown appointed Distinguished Teaching Professor

Department of Biology Professor William D. Brown, universally acclaimed by students and faculty, was promoted to SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Key attributes of a Distinguished Teaching Professor rank are exemplified in Dr. Brown, according to those who know him as a colleague, a research scientist or a professor and wrote nomination letters.

A scholar in the field of insect behavioral ecology, Brown demonstrates mastery in the classroom and teaching lab by holding students to high standards and promoting application of the scientific method to original assignments. Brown mentors undergraduate and graduate students in his lab where they conduct novel research across the biological spectrum. He has a reputation as a fair and transparent leader in the Science Center.

What he told me still resonates with me to this day. He said, ‘The students will rise to your lowest expectation, so set the bar high.’ This simple axiom reflects the high level of academic rigor with which Bill leads his courses,” - Dr. Scott Ferguson

Promoted to full professor of Biology in 2012 and appointed chair of the departments of Biology, and Chemistry and Biochemistry three years later, Brown not only teaches high-impact science, Associate Professor Scott Ferguson wrote in his nomination, but also practices high-impact science.

Brown embraces the teacher/scholar model, Dr. Ferguson explained, collaborating with students that includes mentoring close to 90 undergraduate researchers and master’s thesis students since joining the Department of Biology in 2001.

“He embodies the kind of professor that students seek out both for their classes and as a research mentor,” Ferguson said.

When Ferguson arrived at SUNY Fredonia in 2009, he visited Brown in his research lab to gain his insight into course design. “What he told me still resonates with me to this day,” Ferguson recalled. “He said, ‘The students will rise to your lowest expectation, so set the bar high.’

“This simple axiom reflects the high level of academic rigor with which Bill leads his courses,” Ferguson concluded.

Brown has fostered synergy between ecology and molecular biology – once separated by artificial silos – creating a model that has benefited students significantly, according to Ferguson. “Bill’s ecology-minded students get experience with genetics and my molecular genetics students get out of the lab and learn about ecology work,” he explained. “The result is students with tremendous breadth of experience and a greater appreciation for the benefit of collaborating across disciplines.”

Hannah Reid, a candidate for a M.S. in Biology from Frankfort, NY, became very familiar with Brown’s work as an undergraduate at SUNY Geneseo, and remarked, “being able to work in his lab was one of the biggest reasons I chose to come to Fredonia.”

Being passionate about his work not only makes it easy to learn from Brown from an academic standpoint, it also makes him an excellent teacher in ways outside of the classroom, Ms. Reid has observed. Brown is an excellent teacher who truly loves what he does, she added, while his most important quality, she suggests, is his easy going personality.

“He is very easy to get along with, talk to and joke around with, which is so important for someone in the education field because it helps to form a connection with students,” according to Reid.

“Not only have I learned so much from him in research alone, but I have also learned a lot from him on how to teach and connect with students I am teaching,” said Reid, a teaching assistant in Ecology Lab and Organismal Biology Lab. Brown is Reid’s thesis adviser and supervises her graduate assistantship.

Brown exceeds the criteria for the Distinguished Teaching Professor rank in all areas of teaching, scholarship and service. His positive impacts on students, the department and discipline are wide-ranging and demonstrate his deep commitment to all areas of his work, Associate Professor Courtney Wigdahl-Perry wrote in her support of his nomination.

Brown’s primary focus always comes back to the student experience, according to Dr. Wigdahl-Perry.

“Whether advising students for classes in the upcoming semester, mentoring students through a research project in his lab or a practicum in the Stanley museum or leading faculty through curriculum discussions, he wants to ensure that our students are getting what they need to be strong critical thinkers and excellent scientists once they leave our doors at Fredonia,” Wigdahl-Perry said.

Brown is also an established, highly productive scholar in insect behavioral ecology who has built a publication record – 42 publications, mostly as first author/principle investigator – that’s especially remarkable given SUNY Fredonia’s emphasis on teaching, Wigdahl-Perry noted. Moreover, Brown brings his students into the process as active co-authors in many of his publications.

According to senior Biology major Samantha Cates, who’s had Brown as an adviser and enrolled in multiple courses he teaches, Brown embodies the qualities of an outstanding educator. His lectures feature the most intellectually stimulating and challenging discussions Ms. Cates has experienced. He engages the class through conversation instead of simply reading from a slide show, she wrote in her nomination.

“These connections have even transcended Dr. Brown’s class and influenced the lessons I have taught my own students,” said Cates, of North Bellmore, NY. She did her student teaching at Jamestown (NY) High School this spring.

“What is different about Dr. Brown is that he does not expect you to just memorize specific facts, but apply everything you know,” she added. “He encourages you to ‘do’ science instead of merely learning it.”

“Dr. Brown is extremely committed to student success and growth. His passion for teaching extends beyond the classroom as he is dedicated to creating a supportive atmosphere for his students’ needs,” Cates said.

Brown has been an invaluable academic adviser to Cates. “Every time I enter his office to be advised, he already has a plan for my next semester written down before speaking with me.” Cates is returning to SUNY Fredonia this fall as a graduate student.

Having observed Brown teaching in a classroom, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Ted Lee confirms Brown engages with students. “It is clear from his work in classes at different levels and in his research lab that Dr. Brown wants his students to think and to develop critical thinking skills,” Dr. Lee wrote in his nomination.

In dual listed (400/500) courses, Brown provides graduate students with the opportunity to discuss research papers and experimental design at a higher level, Lee said. “His reserved teaching style combined with his extensive research experience provide our graduate students with an intellectual experience beyond what they’ve taken prior to these courses,” Lee observed.

To elaborate on Brown’s impact on students, Lee reached out to 2023 graduate Logan Wilson, who took many courses taught by Brown and worked in his research lab. Now attending the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, Mr. Wilson attested to Brown’s “outstanding pedagogical skills, unwavering dedication to student achievement and profound enthusiasm for biology.”

Marc Guilliod, a senior Biology major from South Floral Park, NY, found “a new sense of motivation and passion to work in my field” during the 2024 summer campus research program with Brown and continuing research during the 2024-2025 academic year that included Ecology and Ecology Lab courses.

Mr. Guilliod recalls Brown helping him to successively transition his research to be done on campus to collect new data on crickets. That research was shared in a poster and PowerPoint presentation given to Biology faculty.

In working with Brown, Guilliod has not only developed a new set of helpful skills that transcend his college career but also adapted to a new way of thinking about science. Guilliod refers to scientific articles students are assigned to read each week as an example.

Initially, Guilliod’s understanding of the subject material was at a surface level. “After just a few months of working with Dr. Brown, I now find myself giving significantly more original input on these articles, giving suggestions on how we can apply the science used in the papers for our own lab experiments and even explaining how I would alter the experimental design if I were the one conducting the experiment done in the paper,” he explained in his nomination.

Brown has a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Toronto, a M.S. in Zoology from Arizona State University and a BSc in Biology, with an Ecology Specialization, from Simon Fraser University.

He is the recipient of two campus honors: named the Robert W. Kasling Lecturer and receiving the William T. Hagan Scholar/Young Artist Award. Brown is also the coordinator of the Adolescence Education: Biology program.