It all started with great mentorship-and now, Huntington Willard wants to return the favor.
Willard, director of the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, has become Duke's first Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. Each year 20 scientists receive the national award, which recognizes achievement in the areas of teaching and research. In addition, honorees receive $1 million to fund undergraduate science initiatives.
"It is a big deal because of the special thing that it recognizes, which is real innovation in teaching and biosciences," Provost Peter Lange said.
Through the award, Willard intends to extend the Genome Revolution FOCUS program into a four-year experience. Participants will be encouraged to develop teamwork skills and to utilize a more open-minded approach to problem solving. Willard also intends to increase opportunities for research and faculty mentorship through IGSP.
"This is a huge opportunity for us. It gives me a chance to focus a lot more of my energy on undergraduate research," Willard said. "I'm doing what I do today because I had spectacular mentorship. I don't think there's anything more important, both in research and in teaching."
As an HHMI professor, Willard also hopes to reverse a growing problem at many institutions. Although he considers Duke an exception, Willard noted that an increasing numbers of professors opt out of teaching to focus on research instead.
"The original academies at the universities were based on people who loved to teach," he said. "There are two kinds of faculty now."
For some students, this can make finding mentors and research opportunities a challenge. As a sophomore, biology major Cameron McCoy had to take matters into his own hands.
"I was left cruising the biology website and pulling off tabs on little sheets of papers on campus," he said.
Now a senior, McCoy has spent two years working in Willard's lab. Initially a lab technician, McCoy said that he has gained valuable insight through his research experience.
"[Willard] treats everyone like a coworker," McCoy said. "Being an undergrad in a Duke lab, you feel like you might get lost. But there, you get all the attention that anyone else would."
Ultimately, Willard hopes that his students will engage in research and later become mentors to others as they pursue their own careers. He also hopes to serve as a role model for other faculty members.
"It's a remarkable privilege to do what we do as faculty and to be at an institution like Duke," Willard said. "Yet, many faculty nowadays don't realize that. So if I can be one person who tries to sell that message to other faculty and to future faculty by working with students, then that's a great legacy."
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