Otterbein University congratulates Professor John Tansey, director of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program, for being named a fellow of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). The ASBMB will induct Tansey and 16 other members into the 2024 class at its annual meeting, Discover BMB, in San Antonio in March.

ASBMB selects fellows based on their outstanding commitment to the ASBMB through participation in the society, as well as accomplishments in research, education, mentorship, diversity and inclusion, advocacy, and service to the scientific community. 

Peter Kennelly, also a 2024 ASBMB Fellow, nominated Tansey and wrote: “He stands out as an influential leader of both his university community and of the ASBMB’s scientist-educator community. The impact of John Tansey’s multiple and sustained contributions as a thought leader and advocate both at Otterbein and beyond clearly and vividly embody the core values of the ASBMB Fellows program.” 

Tansey is a professor of chemistry and the director of the biochemistry and molecular biology program at Otterbein. The Tansey laboratory examines the role the PAT proteins play in lipid storage and disease. This work is almost exclusively conducted by undergraduates. 

Tansey is the faculty adviser of the ASBMB student chapter at Otterbein, which won the 2023 Outstanding Chapter Award. They also won the award in 2012, 2014 and 2018. In addition, he has served on the ASBMB Education and Professional Development Committee. In 2004, he won the Best New Teacher Award, and, in 2012, he won Teacher of the Year Award at Otterbein. 

Tansey talked about his experience advising an award-winning ASBMB student chapter in an interview earlier this year: How to run an ASBMB Student Chapter

Olivia Miller ’23, former president of the ASBMB student chapter, also talked about the chapter’s success: Building a chapter through community 

Tansey gave some insights on working at Otterbein in 2022: Insights on a career at a primarily undergraduate institution 

He also wrote a new textbook with an updated approach to teaching and learning: Biochemistry: An Integrative Approach and Expanded Topics 

Learn more about the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program.