Traci Ness, Biology Professor - Issue 25

Unfortunately there is sad news to share. Our colleague Traci Ness passed away Sunday morning with her mother and sister by her side. She leaves two daughters behind, Mikayla (11) and Olivia (9).

Traci was a passionate and dedicated mother, teacher, mentor, and friend. She built an impressive legacy that significantly impacted our university and its students. She regularly taught Medical Microbiology, Virology, Immunology, Foundations of Microbiology, and Principles of Biology I. Traci received university-level recognition for her outstanding teaching: the Armstrong Kristina Brockmeier Faculty Teaching and Service Award (2011) and the GSU Award for Excellence in Contributions to Instruction (2019). She served as the Director of the Armstrong Science and Technology Expansion Program (STEP), an NSF-funded program (Co-PI, $1 million) that supported incoming high school students to perform research in the college for 2 consecutive summers as rising freshmen and sophomores. She was also the PI for an NSF Transforming Undergraduate Education in the Sciences (TUES) grant ($184,557) which supported the development, implementation, and assessment of the Wolbachia CURE used in the Armstrong BIOL 1107L course, a curriculum that has served thousands of students. Traci also mentored many undergraduate research students, many of whom went on to graduate, MD, and MD/PhD programs. She poured her heart into her students and to her constant growth as a mentor and instructor, all in the interest of student success. A gracious colleague, she’d be the first to welcome a new faculty member by providing all her teaching materials, always stepped up when asked to serve, and could be relied upon to significantly contribute. This last year was tough on Traci yet, until relatively recently, she was teaching a full load and contributing to service. We will miss her dry wit, warm heart, and uncanny attention to detail (rivaled by only Brett Larson ). Information regarding upcoming remembrances will be forthcoming.