College of Science, Cal Poly Pomona
Dr. Donald O. Straney became dean of the College of Science in August 2002. Prior to that, he was assistant to the provost for faculty development and a professor of zoology at Michigan State University.
As an administrator at Michigan State University (MSU), Straney served as department chair for nine years, leading a department of 37 faculty, 60 graduate students, five staff members, and more than 300 majors. As chair, he substantially increased the number of faculty members, oversaw the incorporation of general education and introductory biology teaching into the department’s mission, and led the revision of undergraduate and graduate curriculum as MSU converted to the semester system. Straney also served as the “special projects” person in the provost’s office, overseeing MSU’s involvement in the ACE/Kellogg Project on Leadership and Institutional Transformation. The ACE/Kellogg Project is a national program that enhances academic environments and learning situations between faculty and students. Straney was the co-founder of the interdisciplinary graduate program in ecology and evolutionary biology and served for many years on the All-University Committee on Animal Use and Care. He was active in issues related to access and climate for underrepresented groups on campus and co-chaired a subcommittee of the All-University Task Force on Gay and Lesbian Issues.
As a professor and scientist, Straney’s research in evolutionary biology focused on patterns of evolutionary change within and between major lineages and methodological issues related to the quantitative study of morphological change. This led him to an extended study on understanding patterns of diversification in bats, including the use of embryological investigations of skeletal development. His current research on morphological change in ant evolution is ongoing.Straney received his bachelor of science and master of science degrees from Michigan State Univeristy and his Ph.D. in zoology from UC Berkeley.
Email: masrinivas@csupomona.edu
Phone: (909) 869-3437
Dr. Srinivas majored in Physics and Chemistry as an
undergraduate in India. He began his computer career there as a
FORTRAN programmer working on scientific applications. His boss
suggested that he should get some computer education if he wanted to
advance in his career. Despite a brief detour to Sweden as a
consultant, he found his way to the US and before long had a
doctorate in Computer Science from Penn State and limited job
options, leading him to academia.
Since then he has developed and implemented a bounded variant of the Peter Principle by switching jobs as soon as he figured out how to do them right. He learned to do research and then took a teaching job at Cal Poly Pomona in 1988. He learned to teach and became department chair in 1997. Once he figured out administration, it was time to switch again. He currently serves as Associate Dean for the College of Science.
Hiram Santisteban is delighted to be part of California Polytechnic University, Pomona as the Operations Analyst for the College of Science. Prior to becoming part of the College of Science, Hiram worked for the Rosier School of Education University of Southern California and as Strategic Planning IT Consultant.
Hiram is currently a Doctoral student in Public Administration from the University of La Verne, La Verne, California. He holds a Master in Public Administration from the California State University Long Beach, Long Beach California; a Certificate in Project Management from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish-Public Service from California State University Dominguez Hills Carson, California.
Hiram is a published writer, a salsa instructor, and singer (hobbies). Hiram's Masters and Doctoral Dissertation interests are the role Information Technology; how it plays and how it could be used as a tool to interconnect business driven practices into public administration settings, and vice versa (in the field of Health Care, Higher Education Distance Learning). Hiram's proudest moment is that only 9 years ago, he was unable to speak or write the English Language. Today, not only he has a rich dominion of the language, but also he is an English and Spanish Tutor for a local school district.
Laura's primary responsibilities are to maintain the Dean’s and the Associate Dean's calendars. Laura also offers her assitance with the Robert Noyce Scholarship.
Brent graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 1997 with a B.S. in Geology (yes, another College of Science alumni!). He did his senior thesis on structual geology of metamorphic rocks with respect to faults in the San Gabriel mountains. He still loves rocks and especially enjoys rockclimbing, but chose to work and gain experience as an IT system administrator for the Forest Service from 1997 to 2005.
Brent felt a need to return to his Cal Poly roots and became the IT Consultant for the College of Science in January, 2005. In this capacity, he serves as the system administrator for computer systems that support college faculty and staff and is the IT liason between I&IT division and departments and programs within the college. Since 2005, he has been active in cutovers to new networks and VLAN creation, implementing a new college-wide file server and backup system, and lending a hand when needed. He feels strongly about educating users and securing their data.
