Joseph Koke joined the faculty at then Southwest Texas State University, now known as Texas State University-San Marcos, in August of 1978 as an assistant professor. Dr. Koke's main charge was to develop a program in cell biology, both in research and teaching. He was trained in microscopy, cytology, and molecular biology by mentors at the University of Oregon (James Kezer, Donald Wimber, and Frank Stahl) and at the University of Alberta in membrane physiology and neurobiology by S. K. Malhotra. Dr. Koke did a post-doctoral stint in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison investigating the cell biology of myocardial ischemia - research which he continued at Texas State through the middle part of his career. His research interests broadened to cytoskeletal structures, in particular intermediate filaments, and then development and regeneration of the central nervous system

Dr. Koke has been priviliged to work with many talented graduate students, some 30 of which have gone on to successful scientific careers of their own as PhD's, MD's, or MD-PhDs. He was promoted to full professor in 10 years, and has served as associate chair and interim chair of his department during which time he was instrumental in establishing the first natural science PhD program in the Texas State University System. In addition, he was the PI of the NSF-funded Texas State science/Math/Technology/Education Institute, a 6 year program for in-service high school teachers that provided a real research experience, not a workshop, by pairing teachers with active researchers in the hard sciences. Follow this link for a complete CV( click here.).