Laura J. Robles
310.243.2547
lrobles@csudh.edu

Education
Laura J. Robles is Interim Dean of the College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences. She received her B.S. and M.S. from San Diego State University and her Ph.D. form the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background
Dr. Robles was hired as a Lecturer and then Assistant Professor at CSUDH after graduation from UCSB in 1975.  During her early years she traveled to UCLA on Fridays and weekends to continue her participation in vision research with Dr. Dean Bok at the Jules Stein Eye Institute.  She became part of the NIH Minority Biomedical Research Support program in 1980 and in 1986 she became, and still serves as, its Program Director.  Dr. Robles was Chair of the Department of Biology, Associate Dean for Student Academic Advancement and most recently Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Dominguez Hills.  She has maintained her research laboratory and trained several hundered Dominguez Hills students in cell biology research.  These students served as co-authors on publications in peer revieed scientific journals and presented their work at national conferences. 

Accomplishments and Awards
Dr. Robles received the 2004 Distinguished Undergraduate Institution Mentor Award from the Society for Advancement of Chicano and Native Americans in Science, the 2003 Role Model Citation from Minority Access, Inc. and the 2002 Cesar Chavez Aguila Negra Education, Justica e Ingualdad Award from the CSUDH Latino Faculty and Staff Association.  In 1986 and 1988 she was selected as the CSUDH Outstanding Professor and in 1980 received the Lyle E. Gibson Distinguished Teacher Award.  She has served on numerous NIH study sections and special emphasis panels and recently became Program Director of the NIH Minority Access to Research Careers, Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research program.