Teri Balser

A graduate of Dartmouth College in Biology and Earth Sciences, with a Ph.D. in soil microbiology from the University of California at Berkeley and postdoctoral research in ecosystem ecology at Stanford University, Professor Teri Balser has worked her way up through the ranks and gained substantial experience as a senior leader during the past 25 years. Formerly provost and vice-president (Academic) at the University of Calgary, she was also interim president and provost/vice-president academic at Dalhousie University. Prior to work in Canada, she was the dean of Teaching and Learning for the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia and dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida. She is a passionate scholar and educator. For her work in soil and environmental science she has been honored as a U.S. National Science Foundation Early Career Award winner, was made a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, and has been recognized as a John Curtin Distinguished Professor. She is also known as a master teacher and has received numerous accolades for her accomplishments, including the USDA National Excellence in College and University Teaching Award in 2009 and recognition as the 2010 U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities. In 2016 she was one of three finalists for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, the largest teaching prize in the English-speaking world. An active advocate, speaker, and workshop facilitator, Dr. Balser is also widely known as a change agent and leader in higher education. In 2018 she was named a Principal Fellow of the U.K. Higher Education Academy for her work in teaching and learning. Prior to that she co-founded the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER), was a National Vision and Change Fellow and founding member of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE), and spent time as a Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Chair to India to help build national capacity for pedagogically advanced and socially responsive life-sciences education. She brings a unique perspective and a sense of “pragmatic humanism” to all the work she does.