Donor Impact

Advancing Genetic and Molecular Biology Research

By Maurice Ndole (’07, ’11)

Students are gaining new opportunities to engage in scientific research thanks to a generous $1 million donation that established the first endowed chair position in the College of Science and Mathematics at Fresno State.

The newly established chair position will focus on genetics and molecular biology, supporting education and research that includes cell structure, molecular mechanisms of inheritance, gene expression and development.

Dr. Virginia Stammer Eaton

The gift from the late Dr. Virginia Stammer Eaton led to the appointment of Dr. Joseph Ross as the inaugural Dr. Virginia Stammer Eaton Chair in Genetics and Molecular Biology this past spring.

Ross said creating the endowed chair position will ensure faculty members have the resources to impact many more students over multiple years.

Dr. Christopher Meyer, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, says the endowment was a significant step in advancing biological research at Fresno State.

“Fresno State’s students are ambassadors of cutting- edge knowledge and skills to our community,” Ross says. “This endowed chair position will help me help the Central Valley, and beyond, leverage genetics and molecular biology to improve our lives through understanding the natural world.”

Funding from the endowment has already made an impact, providing undergraduate students with supplies for their research, and wages, which allow students to focus on their research without worrying about looking for a job to make ends meet.

Eaton, a lifelong Fresnan, passed away last year at the age of 99. She graduated from Fresno High School at 17 years old and attended Stanford University, earning a biology degree with honors in just three years.

She then joined the University of Southern California medical school.

She finished her studies in 1947 as the sole woman to graduate in her class in an era when women faced discrimination and were discouraged from pursuing areas of medicine beyond pediatrics and gynecology.

Soon after graduating from med school, she embarked on a distinguished career as a pediatrician at age 25, dedicating herself to diagnosing and supporting children with developmental disabilities and serving underprivileged communities.

Ross said he met Eaton in 2017 when he volunteered to give her a tour of his lab.

“I remember that she was keenly interested in one of the main topics we researched: how cells control the transmission of certain critically important pieces of DNA from parents to their children at fertilization,” Ross recalls. “I suspect this was perhaps meaningful to Virginia because of her long career in pediatrics and especially how genetics affected her patients. I had no idea at the time that a potential gift was perhaps being planned.”