Mark Batzer to Speak at Fall 2018 Commencement

 

Baton Rouge, La. - The LSU College of Science is proud to announce that the keynote speaker for the Fall 2018 Commencement Ceremony will be Dr. Mark Batzer. Dr. Batzer of the LSU Department of Biological Sciences is a Boyd Professor, the highest professorial rank at LSU, and the Dr. Mary Lou Applewhite Distinguished Professor. Previously, he served as an assistant and associate professor in the Department of Pathology at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Batzer joined the faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences in 2001. He is known for his research into the impact of transposable elements or “jumping genes” on eukaryotic genomes and their contribution to genetic variation. He has led the analysis of the transposable element portions of a number of complex genomes including the rhesus macaque, opossum, platypus, finch, 1,000 human genomes project, orangutan, marmoset, gibbon, and baboon genomes. The analysis of the platypus genome was selected as a yearly top 100 science story by Discover magazine.  

Batzer has received an LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award, LSU Distinguished Faculty Award, ING Professor of Excellence Award, and has been named an LSU Rainmaker. He is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Distinguished Mentor. Batzer has served as lead organizer for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Science Research Conference on Mammalian Mobile Elements.  He has also served as a member of the New York State Forensic DNA Subcommittee, editor-in-chief for Gene, executive editor for Analytical Biochemistry, academic editor for Public Library of Science ONE, and as a member of multiple journal editorial boards. 

Batzer received his bachelor’s in zoology and microbiology and master’s in zoology from Michigan State University and PhD in zoology/genetics from Louisiana State University. 

The commencement ceremony will be held Friday, December 14, at 9:00 a.m. in the Maddox Fieldhouse. Graduates are asked to be at the fieldhouse no later than 8:15 a.m. The procession will begin at 8:45 a.m. This is not a clear bag policy event; therefore, there will be bag checks at all entrances to the fieldhouse. The ceremony will be streamed live at www.lsuagcenter.com/CoSFall2018 for family and friends who are unable to attend.