Provost makes chemistry accessible for undergrads

To find a way to attend college and begin his career in biochemistry and molecular biology, Joseph Provost enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in the military police. Later, while earning a bachelor’s degree from Bemidji State University in Minnesota, Provost was commissioned as a nuclear chemical and biological warfare officer and served for 19 years, finishing his duty as a commander of a mechanized infantry company of the Minnesota National Guard.

Joseph Provost

“Going from high school into the Army helped me learn discipline and focus that I didn’t have before,” Provost said. “Something particularly helpful in the research lab and the classroom. Also, being an officer helped me with leadership and management skills, including strategic planning and coordinating moving parts.”
 
Provost, recipient of the 2022 ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education, is the department chair and a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of San Diego. For 27 years, he has worked in undergraduate education and has taught numerous biology, chemistry and biochemistry courses while maintaining a National Institutes of Health- and National Science Foundation-funded research lab focusing on lung cancer and fibrosis.
 
Provost earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and then did a postdoc in John Exton’s lab at the Vanderbilt University Medical School. In 1997, he became a professor in the chemistry and biology departments at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Before moving to the University of San Diego, where he chairs the chemistry and biochemistry department, Provost worked on as a senior member of the North Dakota State University Center for Biopharmaceutical Research and Production.
 
“When I got to Moorhead, the university was starting to build a culture of undergraduate mentored faculty research,” Provost said. “I helped create and build the biochemistry/biotechnology program and a serious re-design that was very successful.”  He also is thrilled to work with a talented group of faculty at San Diego creating a fantastic place to learn and do research.
 
Because neither of his parents finished high school, Provost recognizes the challenges students face and really enjoys helping underrepresented, first-generation and transfer undergraduates gain confidence in science. He uses mind maps, flipped classrooms, course-based undergraduate research experiences, case-based learning to make learning accessible to all students.
 
“He uses innovative pedagogy to get his students’ attention,” Ellis Bell wrote of Provost in his nomination letter. “He trains students without ‘cherry-picking’ the best.”
 
Provost, who has been at USD since 2013, serves on the ASBMB Education and Professional Development Committee, co-established Student Chapters, co-developed the fellowship and accreditation programs, co-led and judged the undergraduate poster competition, and is on the Membership Committee.
 
When the pandemic started, he helped lead a group to curate resources for ASBMB and shared them with the biochemistry and molecular biology community worldwide.
 
“My goal has always been to do what it takes to help students and work with faculty and help them,” Provost said, “or create opportunities for people to do cool things.”