Dr. Donal Skinner
- Dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College
- Professor of Biological Sciences
- Mary McDermott Cook Chair in the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College
An anonymous contribution created the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College in 2017. As dean of the college, Skinner was appointed holder of the chair in 2023.
“Honors can literally change the way you view yourself and the world around you. If you leave Honors thinking the same way you did when you arrived, we have failed you.”
Dr. Donal Skinner, who led the honors programs at Ohio University and the University of Wyoming, joined The University of Texas at Dallas as dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College in January 2023.
UT Dallas’ reputation in the academic community, especially within the science, technology, engineering and math fields, attracted Skinner to UTD. He also noted UTD’s strong commitment to undergraduate research and its significant and growing contributions in arts and culture.
Skinner is known for his strong record of recruiting honors students and fundraising to increase students’ curricular and experiential opportunities. In his previous roles, he implemented mental health and wellness resources for students, developed innovative remote international learning opportunities, and worked to increase undergraduate internship and research opportunities.
Skinner’s academic research focuses on the seasonal mechanisms driving hormone secretion and the regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. He has published more than 80 papers in scientific journals and has been an editorial board member of several journals.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in zoology and computer science from Rhodes University in South Africa, a Bachelor of Science in physiology from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and a PhD in biology with an emphasis on neuroendocrinology from the University of Cambridge. He held a postdoctoral fellowship at Cambridge and a Wellcome Trust International Prize Fellowship at France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research.
From 2002 to 2019, he was a faculty member in the Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming, where he served as department head from 2013 to 2017. Skinner joined Ohio University in 2019, leading its Honors Tutorial College and serving as a faculty member in the Biological Sciences Department.
His professional society memberships include the Zoological Society of Southern Africa, the Society for the Study of Reproduction and Fertility, the Royal Society of South Africa, the Endocrine Society and the Society for Endocrinology.
The Hobson Wildenthal Honors College, established in 2014, houses 12 programs, including the Collegium V Honors and National Merit Scholars programs, and is dedicated to promoting excellence in undergraduate education.