Cornell College proudly announces that Associate Professor of Biochemistry Catherine Volle has been named the first Joanne Paulsen Buresh ’51 and Wendy Buresh, MD ’74 Endowed Chair in Biology.
This is a prestigious honor and recognizes Volle’s achievements as a leader in her field and a valuable mentor to Cornell College students. Endowed professorships are funded by donations and honor the work of Cornell’s outstanding faculty members.
“I am honored to be the inaugural Buresh Endowed Chair, and I am so thankful for alumnae support of the college,” Volle said. “This is both a meaningful recognition and an encouragement to continue the work I care about as I teach our next generation of scientists.”
Volle is dedicated to working with students in her lab, researching antibiotic resistance and finding new and interesting ways to kill bacteria. Her team is currently focused on the biomechanical changes that occur when bacteria are treated with antimicrobial peptides, which are part of the body’s natural defense system, and the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio, which has the potential to act as a living antibiotic. She teaches courses such as Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Cell and Molecular Biology.
Wendy Buresh and her mother, Joanne Buresh, share Volle’s love of science and have many fond memories on the Hilltop that inspired their gift to Cornell to establish this professorship.
“The person I am today—physician, friend, wife, mother—stems in large part from my time at Cornell,” said Wendy Buresh. "The courses I took, the mentorship I received, and the relationships I made all combined to shape my future and continue to influence my life today. Our hope for this gift is that it will profoundly affect generations of Cornellians as positively as our time at Cornell influenced us.”
Wendy Buresh received her bachelor’s in biology after only three years at Cornell and went on to become a physician, practicing family medicine in Cedar Rapids for 35 years. She has particularly fond memories of the late Professor of Biology T. Edwin “Ed” Rogers ’39, who did not discount her desire to attend medical school after three years at Cornell. That support and mentorship inspired Wendy and Joanne to endow the Buresh Chair in Biology.
Joanne Buresh says her quest for knowledge and self-improvement had their roots in her years at Cornell. She has many fond memories of her roommate and her social group, and recalls that her favorite subject was biology because “it was easy” and interesting.