March 24, 2025
Ryan Powell’s journey at Shawnee State University started as a student. However, the end goal of being a professor was not the original plan. Powell started as a pre-med major, moving to Education, before landing on a Natural Science degree.
“I started in Pre-Med and decided that medicine wasn’t necessary what I wanted to do,” Powell said. “I switched over to Education and did a semester of post-secondary education. Then I actually graduated from Shawnee State in 2001 with a natural science degree with a concentration in biology, chemistry, and physics.”
After receiving his degree, Powell decided to pursue a veterinary degree, graduating in 2005.
“I had talked about being a vet when I was younger and grew up on a farm,” Powell said.
After many years, he decided that he needed a change. Living in Columbus for his wife’s medical career, the family decided to move back to their hometown.
“I got to a point where I needed a life change,” he stated. “My wife is a physician and a job opened up in our home town for her. I was able to go back to my old veterinary job but after a while I felt like I needed to make a change.”
The change happened over a conversation with Dr. Eugene Burns, a Biology professor at SSU, who discussed with Powell the need for aid in the department. The position started as an Adjunct Professor with a couple classes leading to a full-time Assistant Professor position.
In his role, he works with students daily and hopes to give them experiences that are not offered everywhere.
“We have a program that if you want to go to medical school, you can take the advanced anatomy cadaver class,” Powell explained. “A lot of medical schools have gotten away from full cadaver dissection, but students are able to completely dissect a cadaver enriching their education and making them far more prepared for the challenges ahead.”
SSU’s Biology program prepares students for careers in science as well as providing a strong preparation for students interested in graduate or professional schools. The program allows students to choose from two tracks – BS Biology: Biomedical Sciences, preparing students interested in medical or professional schools, and BS Biology: Organismal Biology, preparing students with a broad intellectual founding in life science. Powell hopes to be able to give students in the program the opportunities and aid that he says he was fortunate that people gave him during his own journey.
To learn more about the Biology program at Shawnee State University, visit shawnee.edu/biology.