BIOGRAPHY OF
DR. MARK L. HAMMOND, PH.D.
DEAN, COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY
CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY
Dr. Mark L. Hammond is currently Dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences at Campbell University. The son of Steve and Mary Lee Hammond,
Dr. Hammond is a native of Ashland, OH, where he graduated in the top 2% of his
class from Ashland High School in 1981.
Hammond received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in
biology and general science from Hiram College in 1985, and graduated cum laude
with department honors. During his
undergraduate tenure at Hiram, he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa and
Omicron Delta Kappa national honor societies.
Dr. Hammond went on to earn a doctorate in biology
from the University of South Carolina in 1990 where he specialized in molecular
genetics and biochemistry. His
dissertation was titled, “Characterization of the Molecular Mechanisms
Regulating Ribosomal Protein mRNA Translation in Mouse Muscle Cells.” His doctoral work led to publications in two
prestigious journals, The Journal of Biological Chemistry and Genes
and Development. At the completion
of his doctorate, Dr. Hammond worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory. Opportunistic timing
allowed Hammond to work at the Laboratory’s Life Sciences Division and Center
for Human Genome Studies when the Human Genome Project officially started in
the fall of 1990.
Hammond developed a patent for rapid base sequencing
in DNA and RNA while working at Los Alamos.
In 1995, Hammond’s patent received the Distinguished Patent Award out of
several hundred others developed that same year. Dr. Hammond’s work at Los Alamos
produced a second patent in 1996 dealing with DNA fragment sizing and
sorting that was first licensed by Molecular Technologies, Inc. Hammond’s work on rapid DNA sequencing based
on single molecule detection was published in the scientific journal, Society
of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, in 1991.
In 1992 Hammond joined the Campbell University
faculty as an assistant professor. Hammond was made an associate professor and
chairman of the department in 1996.
During his tenure at Campbell, Hammond has been awarded a grant from the
North Carolina Biotechnology Center for improvements in genetics and molecular
biology. The money was used to purchase laboratory equipment that allowed the
introduction of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology into the
genetics and molecular biology courses offered at Campbell. He is also the
recipient of the University’s Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence for the
College of Arts and Sciences for 1993-94.
Dr. Hammond served as chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences
from 1996-2001 before becoming the Dean of the College on June 1, 2001.
Hammond is married to the former Jill Darling of
Mansfield, OH. They are the parents of four children: Erica Joy, Nicholas Jared,
Veronica Lee, and Monica Darling.