College of Science
and Mathematics
p: (617) 287-5777
csm@umb.edu
Appointment of Michelle Foster as
Associate Dean for Student Success
Michelle Foster, associate professor of chemistry, has been appointed as the new Associate Dean for
Student Success. In her new capacity, Shelley is the administrative leader of the Student Success Center.
The Center’s mission is to partner with the faculty to enhance academic support and advising
programs for all students enrolled in the College of Science and Mathematics, with the goal of
increasing retention, graduation rate, and opportunities for undergraduate research, internships, and
experiential learning activities.
Shelley graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in chemistry. She remained in
Austin to work with Alan Campion and earned her PhD in chemical physics. She then did a post doc
with George Ewing at Indiana University in Bloomington where she learned about environmental
interfaces.
Shelley was appointed to the UMass Boston faculty in 1999. Her research program focuses on
environmental and atmospheric chemistry, specifically heterogeneous tropospheric reactions. In 2005,
Shelley was promoted to associate professor. Since her tenure and promotion, she has primarily been
occupied with running the Chemistry Graduate Program, and has served as its program director since
2006. The program’s graduate enrollments continue to grow, and this success was just highlighted
at Commencement 2008 with the awarding of our first ever doctorates in Green Chemistry.
Shelley has also served as an active member of the University Honors Program Advisory Board since
2000. Shelley has had 23 undergraduate students work in her research group in the past nine years,
with many of them going on to top tier graduate schools such as Yale, Brown, Brandeis, Washington
University, University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Massachusetts. One of her students
won a Marshall Scholarship in 2003—the first ever recipient from the UMass system. Her active
interest in all students is well known throughout the college as well as the university.