Assistant Dean for Student Development and Academic Affairs; Director Preparing Future and Faculty Professionals; Advisor Underrepresented Professional and Graduate Student Organization (UPnGO) at IUPUI
Tabitha M. Hardy, Ph. D. is the interim, assistant vice chancellor and assistant dean for student development and academic affairs within the University Graduate School and IUPUI Graduate Office. She also holds a faculty appointment as a lecturer in the department of biology at IUPUI. Dr. Hardy is the youngest of ten children and the first in her family to attain a college degree. Hardy received her BS in Biology Education from Alcorn State University, her Master's in Biology from Jackson State University and is an alumna of IU, earning her Ph.D. from IU School of Medicine in Microbiology and Immunology. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she studied breast cancer health disparities and epigenetics, she held an appointment as an assistant professor of Biology at Stillman College, a historically black college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Hardy has a wealth of teaching and research experience and has also received numerous internal and external grants to fund her research and various projects.
In current her roles, Hardy builds and sustains campus and community academics, research, and career partnerships; prepares grants; and teaches contemporary biology and career and professional development courses. Dr. Hardy has successfully navigated academia as a first generation minority female in STEM at both minority and majority serving institutions. Additionally, Dr. Hardy has widespread experience in professional programming, mentoring and guiding students to discover and pursue their educational path. She is particularly focused on developing programs fostering graduate and professional student success, academic affairs related to graduate and professional programs, and the recruitment and retention of diverse students.