Elizabeth A. Vallen, biology professor, researcher, and former department chair at Swarthmore, has died at 59
She created science education programs for young students and mentored college students and other faculty. “She challenged and supported [students] so that they achieved more than they imagined,” a colleague said.
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Elizabeth A. Vallen, 59, of Swarthmore, biology professor and former department chair at Swarthmore College, researcher, education innovator, author, and mentor, died Wednesday, April 10, of cancer at her home.
Dr. Vallen joined the faculty at Swarthmore as an assistant professor of cell biology in 1995 and went on to become a two-time chair of the biology department and the college’s Howard A. Schneiderman professor of biology in 2019. She taught introductory courses and honors classes on cell and molecular biology. Colleagues praised “her commitment to and passion for science education” in an online tribute.
As a first-generation college graduate and mother of two, Dr. Vallen empathized openly with students about their personal and academic challenges. So, among other things, she gave them oral exams to perfect their presentations and scheduled office hours at their convenience.
“She could quickly recognize for another person what might be frightening, thrilling, or ridiculous in their circumstance, and used her insight to help them in ways that were creative, effective, and very often fun,” said Rachel Merz, biology professor emerita at Swarthmore.
She even used pool noodles in class, to the delight of many students, to demonstrate how chromosomes interact. Bradley Davidson, biology chair at Swarthmore, said: “Liz was the heart of our department.”
Dr. Vallen refocused her research on the cell biology of corals, sea anemones, and photosynthetic algae over the last decade, and became an authority on marine environment and climate change. “There was an inquisitiveness about her,” said her husband, Steve DiNardo. “She was good at asking questions.”
Her innovative lab exercises were adopted by other professors, and her groundbreaking research in cell division, genetics, symbiosis, and other topics was praised by colleagues for its “rigor and mechanistic investigation.” She earned grants and awards from the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, National Science Foundation, and other groups.
She also valued early education and created the Science for Kids program that has grown from a dozen young students in 2004 to more than 50 in biology, chemistry, and physics workshops. She started the Biology Scholars program for undergraduates and was active with Swarthmore’s Summer Science and Summer Scholars programs.
“It’s essential that we give [young people] the opportunity to explore science and the scientific process,” she said in a 2009 online article she wrote for Swarthmore. “I get to show them aspects of the world they might not otherwise have the opportunity to see. That’s phenomenally gratifying.”
She served on committees and councils at Swarthmore, lectured at seminars and workshops around the world, and was a visiting professor at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Hawaii, and Rockefeller University in New York. She wrote dozens of scholarly papers and was a longtime editor for the journal Cell Biology Education.
Friends said Dr. Vallen was energetic and engaging, and she gleefully celebrated their milestones and achievements with balloons and handfuls of glitter. They praised her kindness, creativity, dedication, and intellect in a tribute.
One friend called her “a beloved and gifted scholar, educator, and role model.” Another friend said she was “truly inspirational.”
Elizabeth Ann Vallen was born Feb. 8, 1965, in Philadelphia. One of 10 first cousins on her father’s side, she grew up in the Northeast section of the city and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School.
“She was always a scientist,” said her cousin Ann Velenchik. “We could count on her to know the names of things and how things worked, and everyone wanted her on the Trivial Pursuit team because she was aces at the ‘green’ questions on science.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio in 1986 and a doctorate in molecular biology at Princeton University in 1992. She completed fellowships at Yale and Rockefeller Universities before joining Swarthmore.
She met Steve DiNardo at Rockefeller, and he said he was dazzled immediately by her “incredible smile and bright eyes.” They were married in 1995, had son Zach and daughter Abby, and lived in Swarthmore.
Dr. Vallen liked to travel with her family and soak up the culture, especially the food, wherever they went. She made connections with people easily, and a friend called her one of the “kindest, wisest, most creative, and compassionate” people she knew.
“She focused on other people and their lives and experiences,” her husband said. Swarthmore’s Bradley Davidson said: “She was an inspiration to all of us on how to craft a life that was centered on kindness and generosity.”
In addition to her husband and children, Dr. Vallen is survived by two sisters, a brother, and other relatives.
Services were held on April 13 and 14.
Donations in her name may be made to Chester Children’s Chorus, Attn: Carolyn Marzo, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, Pa. 19081; and the American Cancer Society, Box 6704, Hagerstown, Md. 21741.