Professor Clark Lindgren Receives the Society for Neuroscience's Award for Education in Neuroscience

Clark Lindgren, Patricia A. Johnson Professor of Neuroscience, has received the Society for Neuroscience's Award for Education in Neuroscience, recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to neuroscience education and training.

In his thirty years teaching at Grinnell, Lindgren has taught hundreds of students and has collaborated with more than eighty undergraduate student researchers. Many of these researchers were among the group of 120 Grinnell neuroscience alumni to support his nomination for the award, coordinated by Dr. Megan Hagenauer ‘03, assistant research scientist in neuroinformatics at the University of Michigan.

“The award is above all the result of the undaunting effort of many alums who wanted to recognize the important contribution of faculty who teach and mentor students at primarily undergraduate institutions,” Lindgren says. “It was their unique and immersive experience in neuroscience at Grinnell that inspired them to pursue a career in neuroscience. Thus, I share this award with all of my colleagues who worked to make their experience here so transformative and empowering.”

Lindgren studies chemical synapses, the connections between neurons and adjacent sensory, muscle, or nerve cells. These chemical synapses release messenger molecules, known as neurotransmitters, to bind to neighboring cells and disseminate signals throughout the body. In recent years, Lindgren and his research students have been exploring how neurons at chemical synapses control the release of neurotransmitters and how the chemical environment surrounding a synapse can modify this process.

In his section of BIO 150: Introduction to Biological Inquiry, The Language of Neurons, beloved by Grinnell students and known informally as “the crayfish class,” Lindgren guides students through hands-on study of the crayfish neuromuscular junction to introduce the mechanics of nerve-cell communication. As a culmination of their interdisciplinary studies and research experience, students in his Neuroscience Senior Seminar delve deeply into a contemporary issue within the field of neuroscience and the possible approaches and solutions used by neuroscientists.

In 2022, Lindgren was awarded the Biology Faculty Mentor Award from the Biology Division of the Council for Undergraduate Research. In 2015, he was honored as Iowa Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He served for many years as Chair of the Neuroscience Concentration at Grinnell College and as Chair of the College’s Health Professions Advisory Committee.

The Award for Education was established in 1991, when renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks received the inaugural award. In the award’s three-decade history, Clark Lindgren is only the third faculty member from a baccalaureate college to have won it.