October 2, 2026: Numbers

I remember the first time I did a genetics experiment.

It wasn’t in college, although I know I took a genetics class there. It wasn’t in graduate school. That was mostly biochemistry for me. It was later, when I was a postdoctoral fellow at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and collaborating with a lab at NYU. We had a mutant zebrafish that I crossed with one containing a fluorescent transgene, but otherwise wild type. The results were striking! The ratio of mutant babies to wild-type babies, visible under the fluorescence microscope, was almost exactly as predicted by the Punnett square!

You might be underwhelmed by my enthusiasm. Sorry, but there is nothing like seeing something with your own eyes. Those numbers and ratios were beautiful!

Our Foundations of Biology class has, just this week, completed the study of genetics. They probably discovered that Punnett squares are nice, but not useful to describe every aspect of genetics. Our Genetics class is having fun sorting through fruit flies to identify their genetic makeup and phenotypic ratios. We posted some nice photos of these little guys on social media!

But now I’d like to share with you some other statistics: numbers, ratios, percentages that describe Andrews University, our biology programs here, and our graduates that go on to amazing careers in a variety of fields. Over the last couple weeks, we have been compiling this information, to give a clearer picture of who we are and what we do in biology at Andrews University.

• Our university is well-recognized. Maybe you’ve seen the recent stats on Andrews University. Niche has ranked us as the #1 Most Diverse College in America, #17 Best Christian College, #1 Best Small College in Michigan, and #2 Best Christian College and Top Private University in Michigan. Our students come from all over the country and the world. We are a microcosm of the world.
• Our students get involved. 3 of every 4 biology juniors and seniors are involved in important roles within our department, as teaching assistants, research assistants, and leaders within student clubs. Just like my zebrafish experiment, there is nothing like being personally involved in the life of the department.
• Our alumni are successful in their educational and career pursuits. We recently compiled data on our alumni over a 10-year window, graduates from 2012 to 2021. For those we could track, this is what they did after leaving our biology program (see graph on webpage):
  • About 50% have become physicians or are in training to become physicians. The other 50% have continued on to a variety of other degree programs and employment.
  • 56% of graduates who sought further education obtained professional degrees through Loma Linda University. We have a strong relationship with our sister school for the health professions.
  • However, other graduates have gone on to many different schools of higher education, including: Boston University, Brown University, CalTech, Central Michigan University, Columbia University, Dartmouth University, Duke University, Medical College of Wisconsin, Meharry Medical College, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Michigan State University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, NYU, Temple University, University of British Columbia, University of Connecticut, University of Georgia, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of Utah, University of Washington, and Vanderbilt University.

That is a big list. The story that comes out of all this is: Our students are prepared to compete with the best and brightest in the country. Many find success in health-focused careers following further graduate education. Some enter the sciences or directly into the workforce. We are proud of the accomplishments of each one of our alumni.

These statistics attempt to tell a story of who we are. Of course, the best stories are the real stories: the individual success stories, challenges met, sometimes even the failure stories. I hope we can share more of those stories in the future, not just the stats.

This verse comes to mind:

What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31 NLT