StAR Power: Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dean Named

President Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., announced the appointment of Douglas Stocco, Ph.D., as dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Stocco will continue to serve as executive vice president for research and assume the duties as dean on July 1.

Stocco joined the Department of Cell Biology & Biochemistry in 1974. He received several honors such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Career Development Award in 1985 and the NIH MERIT Award in 1996. The NIH has funded his career since 1984. Stocco’s research career has focused on the mechanisms involved in steroid hormone synthesis. His research achievements include the identification and characterization of a novel protein, which his laboratory named the Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory or StAR protein.

Distinguished Leader

“Dr. Stocco is truly a national expert who has made important contributions in research,” Mitchell said. “We have seen his excellent leadership and dedication to academics. Without question, he will serve the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences well with his commitment to our students and research.”

He has received many top awards presented by the Texas Tech University System such as the Grover E. Murray Distinguished Professor in 1997, the highest distinction a faculty member can attain. Stocco was awarded a University Medical Center Endowed Chair and also was named the Robert A. Welch Endowed Chair in Biochemistry in 1998. In 2003, he was honored as the University Distinguished Professor and in 2005 was elected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow.

History of Success

He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed, original scientific articles, book chapters and review articles. In recognition of his work, Stocco was given the Research Award by the Society for the Study of Reproduction in 1997, the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Distinguished Scientist Award in 1997 and the British Endocrine Society Transatlantic Lecture Award in 1999. In 2001, he was awarded a Raine Distinguished Professorship at the University of Western Australia. In 2005, he received the Dean’s Research Award, the President’s Research Award, the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. In 2009, Stocco received the Distinguished Scientist of the Year Award from the Society for Reproduction and Fertility in the United Kingdom.

Stocco received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Windsor, a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and performed two years of postdoctoral research at University of California, Los Angeles.