Dr. Aditi Pai's SSE Vice President Election Elevates Spelman's Biology Program

Shaping the Future of Evolution

Dr. Aditi Pai, special assistant to the Office of the Provost and a professor of biology, was elected vice president (North America) of the International Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE). Dr. Pai started her two-year term in November 2024.

“This is the largest disciplinary society in my field, and has membership worldwide,” Dr. Pai said. “This is a great milestone for me, especially because I represent an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).”

The Society for the Study of Evolution promotes evolutionary biology research, education, application, outreach, and community building in an equitable and globally inclusive manner. The organization also aspires to advance knowledge of evolutionary biology for the benefit of science and society and to cultivate and support a global community of evolutionary biologists, according to its website.

"My role brings visibility to the biology department at Spelman. Specifically, it speaks to the student research training that occurs in our department. To my knowledge, this is the first time there has been an office bearer from an HBCU," Dr. Pai said. "The main contribution as VP (North America) would be towards evaluating graduate student, post-doc, and faculty research awards."

Dr. Pai is an evolutionary biologist who earned her doctorate at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2001. Prior to coming to SUNY-Buffalo, she earned her master's degree in ecology at Pondicherry University (Puducherry, India) and her bachelor's in chemistry, environmental science and zoology at St. Joseph’s College (Bengaluru, India).

She joined the biology department at Spelman in 2006 and was tenured in 2011. Dr. Pai was promoted to full professor in 2020. As a biologist, she investigates questions on sexual selection and conflict using the flour beetles as a model system. As a science educator, she investigates the impact of innovative curriculum, instruction strategies, and assessment practices on student engagement and learning. Her work is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Pai was recognized for excellence in teaching in 1998 as a graduate student at SUNY-Buffalo and for excellence in research at Spelman College in 2009 and 2014. In 2018, the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia (Athens) selected her for the year-long Governor's Teaching Fellowship. In 2020, the Society for College Science Teaching awarded her the Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teaching Award (OUSTA).

She has served in several leadership positions on her campus, including vice chair of biology (2010-2013) and co-director of the HHMI program (2012-2016). She was appointed co-director of Spelman’s Teaching Resources and Research Center in 2014 and interim vice provost for faculty in 2021.

My Spelman Experience: Dr. Pai

Biology Department     International Society for the Study of Evolution