History

Biology courses have been part of the curriculum at Emory from its 1836 founding in Oxford, Ga. The first course offering in the biological sciences was human physiology. The biology curriculum quickly expanded as the College grew to include classes in histology and botany.  The science program at Emory expanded in the years following the Civil War and the first official professorship in biology at Emory College came in 1896 with the appointment of Reverend H.S. Bradley, Jr as Professor of Biology.  In 1911, the Department of Biology was established at Emory College.

In 1990, the Biology Department, together with the Biochemistry, Microbiology/Immunology, and Pharmacology Departments of the School of Medicine, and the Physics Department of the College, moved into the new O. Wayne Rollins Research Building, a five-storied building with 146,000 square feet of net space. The presence under the same roof of these various departments is an unusual circumstance that greatly favors research interactions and enhances programmatic collaborations among faculty groups. (The Physics Department has since moved to the Math & Computer Science building.)

A very convenient pedestrian bridge was built at the same time as the Rollins Research Center in order to facilitate contacts with the other departments of the College, including Chemistry and Math/Computer Sciences, and with two additional basic sciences departments, Anatomy/Cell Biology and Physiology, which are located in the Whitehead Biomedical Research Building.

The 1462 Clifton Road building contains all of the classrooms and teaching laboratories used by Biology. The O. Wayne Rollins Research Center is connected to the 1462 Clifton Road building, the Whitehead Biomedical Research Building, and the Grace Crum Rollins School of Public Health building by an underground hallway.

The Health Sciences Library is in a wing extending from the main building at 1462 Clifton Road. It houses the journals, books, and reference materials necessary for the research and teaching missions of the Department of Biology, the Medical School, and the School of Public Health.