(l to r) Cook, Horn, Wingate, Whaley, Cheek, Hopp, Brownlee, Thompson, and Henderson   

The Department of Biology offers majors in Biology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as well as pre-professional programs in pre-medicine and pre-dentistry. It also offers course work that supports Houston Baptist University's nursing program as well as the pre-pharmacy, pre-optometry, pre-physical therapy, and pre-physician's assistant programs. Small classes and labs taught by faculty members with earned Ph.D. degrees in various areas of biology mean that you will find it easy to get your questions answered, both in and outside of class. You'll also perform your lab work in our four laboratory facilities kept modern and up-to-date with an annual $50,000 grant from the Cain Foundation. Labs are equipped with modern instrumentation including a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, high-pressure liquid chromotograph, thermocycler for polymerase chain reactions, Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer, several gas chromatographs, fluorescence spectrophotometer, as well as PC and Macintosh computers.

Updates to the Curricula Offered by the Biology Department:

Over the last decade many biology majors have been attracted to HBU because of a successful pre-med program. During the 1990s, the biology department at HBU laid the groundwork to expand our Biology degree program to incorporate training of students in modern methods of biochemistry and molecular biology. Our biology faculty is composed of individuals with backgrounds that include extensive training in the areas of biochemistry and molecular biology at large research institutions. The biology curriculum has been rapidly expanded in recent years with courses in molecular biology, advanced cellular biology, virology, immunology, in addition to courses in endocrinology, neuroscience, and pharmacology. A Cain Foundation Grant of $250,000 has helped to fund laboratories for the expanding biology curriculum. New equipment purchases allowed the biology teaching labs to include molecular biology methodologies in the curriculum such as gel electrophoresis, chromatography, PCR technology.

Our campus is only a few miles from a concentration of large research institutions in the Texas Medical Center and in recent years numerous biotechnology companies have moved into the Houston metropolitan area. The presence of so many biomedical research facilities and biotechnology companies has created a demand in the local job market for individuals with training in biochemistry and molecular biology. In 2000 the biology department upgraded the training we provide to students to prepare them for success in careers in the biological sciences with the establishment of a new major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BCMB). BCMB is offered in addition to the traditional Biology major. This major incorporates the training needed for students to compete for spaces in medical school, dental school and graduate programs in the biological sciences, in addition to entry-level employment in biomedical research at academic institutions and in the biotechnology industry. BCMB students are encouraged to apply for summer positions in research institutions. Between 1990 and 1999, forty-nine students from the Houston Baptist University (HBU) College of Science and Mathematics have been accepted into summer research programs at University of Texas Health Science Center - Houston, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Houston, or Rice University.

In addition to our pre-med program, HBU trains a number of biology education majors every year. In 2001 the Biology Department updated our biology education curriculum to meet recent Texas state mandates for teachers with the addition of a Life Sciences major. There is an increasing demand in Texas for science teachers who are trained to teach multiple sciences. Recently, Composite Science was established in the State of Texas as a certification area to meet the needs of middle school science programs. Thus, in 2001 the Biology Department also participated in the establishment of a new Composite Science major for secondary school teachers. This major prepares education majors to teach physics, chemistry, and biology at the secondary school level and would meet the demand for secondary school teachers who can teach multiple disciplines.

For more information about the Biology Department please visit our contact page.