Marsha Kowal

Biography

Marsha Kowal is a Senior Lecturer and the Associate Director of Graduate Studies for the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. She earned her B.S. in Bioengineering from Oregon State University where she completed an undergraduate thesis as part of the Honors College and conducted research abroad in Lausanne, Switzerland. She earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Cornell University with Dr. Cynthia Reinhart-King investigating the subcellular mechanical cues that contribute to the development of age-related atherosclerosis. During her graduate studies, Dr. Kowal was a recipient of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, and a Sloan Foundation Fellowship.

Prior to joining Cornell as a Senior Lecturer, Dr. Kowal was at the University of Houston where she was the Director of the Honors Engineering Program and taught gateway engineering courses. She also spent time working in industry at a Houston biotech start-up developing aptamer technology.