Professor Núñez

Megan Núñez is Dean of Faculty Affairs and the Nan Walsh Schow ’54 and Howard Schow Professor in the Physical and Natural Sciences.  Dean Núñez has responsibility for faculty development, faculty appointments, and diversity and inclusion efforts.  She works directly with departments in the sciences and the visual and performing arts.  Prior to becoming dean, she served as chair of the Chemistry department and director of the Biochemistry program.

Professor Núñez is a summa cum laude graduate of Smith College, and she earned her doctorate from the California Institute of Technology.  She held a Clare Boothe Luce assistant professorship at Mount Holyoke College and a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University before joining the Chemistry Department at Wellesley in 2013.

A chemical biologist whose research focuses on DNA damage and bacterial adhesion, Professor Núñez has mentored over 70 female undergraduate researchers in her laboratory, advancing their progress into STEM careers.  She has authored or coauthored 34 research publications and served as PI or co-PI on numerous NIH and NSF research grants.  Her research was honored with a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2012.

Professor Núñez founded and directed the PLUMS program at Mount Holyoke College, a peer-led science workshop program designed to improve outcomes for a diverse student body through active, collaborative learning and community-building.  For this work she was presented with the Faculty Teaching Award in 2012.  From 2018-2022, she served as PI of Wellesley’s Science Center HHMI Inclusive Excellence project with the goal of helping every student to thrive at the College.

The mother of 18-year-old twins, Megan enjoys reading, hiking, bicycling, and yoga.