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Biography

Dr. Garro was appointed Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in August 2006. Previous to his appointment at UMass Dartmouth he served as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Biology at Lehman College of the City University of New York from 1991-2006. Prior to his appointment at Lehman he served from 1991-2001 as Associate Dean and subsequently Vice Dean and Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) and was also Acting Associate Dean for Public Health. Prior positions include ten years (1981- 1991) as Professor and Head of Microbiology at the City University of New York (CUNY) Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education/CUNY Medical School. From 1970-1981 he served on the faculty of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine where he rose from the rank of Assistant Professor to Professor of Microbiology. Dr. Garro has held grants from the NIH, NIAAA, American Cancer Society the March of Dimes and the New Jersey Division of Human Services, Office For Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. His research has focused on the control of gene expression in bacterial systems and other biochemical and molecular bases for the increased cancer risk and birth defects associated with alcohol abuse.

As Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Garro is the chief academic officer of UMass Dartmouth and is responsible for all educational programs as well as academic issues that relate to the faculty including appointments, promotions and evaluations. He also is responsible for preparing accreditation reviews, strategic planning and all academic budgets.

In addition to his academic appointments Dr. Garro has served on several National Institutes of Health review committees, was Chair of the Northeast Region, Association of American Medical Colleges, Group on Institutional Planning from 1996-2000 and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey from 1996-2001. He was an Advisory Board Member of The Alcohol Research and Treatment Center, Liver Disease and Nutrition Center of the Bronx VA Medical Center and Mount Sinai School of Medicine and also served as the Vice President and subsequently President of the Board of Trustees of the Bronx/Westchester Area Health Education Center, (2002-2006).

Dr. Garro received his B.S. degree in biology in 1963 from Manhattan College and his Ph.D. degree in microbiology and immunochemistry in 1968 from Columbia University. He was a research fellow from 1968 to 1970 in the Department of Biochemistry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.