Faculty Spotlight: Jennifer Sullivan, PhD

Outstanding Faculty Award for the Medical College of Georgia

Jennifer Sullivan, PhD, wears many hats – dean of The Graduate School, tenured professor in the Department of Physiology in the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Regents’ Professor, interim executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, as well as the outstanding faculty member for MCG.

“I love my job(s)!” Sullivan said. “I have always been committed to working with students and helping them reach their goals.”

A native of New York, she credits Mrs. Russell, her biology teacher at Hudson High School, for influencing her career path early on.

“She drew a heart on the floor one day so we could walk through the chambers of the heart to learn about blood flow,” Sullivan said. “Biology was already something that fascinated me, but having a teacher take the time to develop impactful ways to connect with each student made a lasting impression on me.”

“I want to be a part of AU reaching its goals. I want to see us be a top destination for outstanding graduate education and well recognized for the world-class research that is being performed at MCG, hopefully in a new state-of-the-art research building.”

Jennifer Sullivan, PhD

After earning her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in New York, Sullivan headed south to Augusta, Georgia, in October 2000 to join the lab of Jennifer Pollock, PhD, in the Vascular Biology Center in MCG as a postdoctoral fellow.

Nearly 24 years later, Sullivan has become an integral part of AU in both the classroom and the lab.

“In my role as dean of The Graduate School, I have the opportunity to work with my team in TGS, students, faculty and leadership across AU to improve the graduate student experience and advocate for the needs of the graduate community,” she said. “In the lab, I have the freedom to pursue my research passions, train undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees in biomedical research and collaborate with amazing scientists. In both cases, it is the people that I get to work with that make AU such a great place to work.”

Even with the great work already being done at AU, Sullivan has lofty goals for MCG and The Graduate School.

“I want to be a part of AU reaching its goals,” she said. “I want to see us be a top destination for outstanding graduate education and well recognized for the world-class research that is being performed at MCG, hopefully in a new state-of-the-art research building.”

Adding the 2024 Outstanding Faculty Award for MCG to her 2023 MCG Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) Leadership Award is special.

“Recognition of your work by your peers and institution is humbling,” Sullivan said. “I have outstanding colleagues who are doing amazing work. I am honored to have been chosen to receive this award.”