Mission and Core Values

Understanding Our World · Healing Our World

Our Vision

In the Department of Biology, the science we teach and the science we research are all about understanding our world. I think you might even say that we have a Biblical mandate to understand God’s world. We are supposed to be stewards and care takers of the world that we inherited. We don’t own it and so we must understand it in order to preserve it and care for it. This goes for all of humanity as well as for the planet.

In addition to understanding our world, the Department of Biology at Baylor believes it must do research that also is committed to healing our world. We all know that the world is broken (we broke it) and in need of healing. The Biology program at Baylor has an incredible reputation for training future physicians and health care workers. We also want to be training the next generation of scientists and researchers who will be developing the cures that heal the sick and that includes humans, animals and the entire ecosystem of our planet. In addition to research and training with graduate students we are committed to transformational experiences for our undergraduate students.

At Baylor University we prepare students for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence within a Christian, nurturing framework. In line with that mission, we aspire to a vision of inclusive excellence in the biological sciences where all students have equal opportunity for success. We are committed to a vision of understanding our world and healing our world.

Dwayne D Simmons, Ph.D.
Cornelia Marschall Smith Endowed Professor, Department of Biology
Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Baylor University

Our Mission

The Department of Biology is committed to deepening a culture of discovery from a modern life sciences perspective through teaching and research that emerge from interdisciplinary and problem-solving collaboratives. As a community of learners composed of students, faculty and staff, our objectives are to study biological phenomena with broad societal ramifications, understand foundational mechanisms from the scale of gene expression to macroevolution, and develop and teach knowledge that can be applied to pressing and complex issues. We are dedicated to the overarching purpose of improving lives through teaching and research that address worldwide challenges in human health and environmental stewardship.

Statement of Evolution

Evolution, a foundational principle of modern biology, is supported by overwhelming scientific evidence and is accepted by the vast majority of scientists. Because it is fundamental to the understanding of modern biology, the faculty in the Biology Department at Baylor University (Waco, TX) teach evolution throughout the biology curriculum. We are in accordance with the American Association for Advancement of Science’s statement on evolution. We are a science department, so we do not teach alternative hypotheses or philosophically deduced theories that cannot be tested rigorously.