Frank R. Hall 
Dean of the College of Science and Engineering | Southern Utah University
Cedar City, UT, UNITED STATES
Specializing in science and science education, and the intersection of science and society.
Biography
Dr. Frank R. Hall is the dean for the Walter Maxwell Gibson College of Science and Engineering at Southern Utah University. With over two decades of experience and service in higher education administration, Hall became dean in 2019. His scholarship has focused on science and science education, and the intersections between science and society.
His past academic appointments included dean of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Saginaw Valley State University, full professor and dean of the School of Education, Health and Natural Science at Worcester State University, faculty positions at the University of New Orleans and University of Delaware, and was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado.
Throughout his career, Hall has been dedicated to improving diversity, inclusion, and access to underrepresented and underserved students. He was nominated as an Outstanding African-American in STEM for the Black Engineers of the Year Awards in 2014.
Hall completed his Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. He also holds a master’s degree in geology from Lehigh University and a bachelor’s degree in earth science from Kean University.
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Industry Expertise (1)
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (13)
Community-based Learning and Research
Higher Education Retention
Diversity & Inclusion in Higher Education
Physical Science for Elementary School Teachers
Minority Student Mentoring
Sustainable Use of Oceans
Engaging Students in STEM Careers
Geology of National Parks
Geology of Southern Utah
Under-Represented Students in STEM
Protection of Oceans and Coasts
Paleoceanography
Higher Education Access
Education (3)
University of Rhode Island: Ph.D., Geological Oceanography
Lehigh University: M.S., Geology
Kean University of New Jersey: B.A., Earth Science / Geology
Accomplishments (2)
Golden Apple Award (professional)
Awarded by the Office of Disabilities Services, 2016
Emerald Award Nominee (professional)
Outstanding African American in STEM, Black Engineers of the Year Awards, 2014
Affiliations (6)
- American Society for Engineering Education
- Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences
- Geological Society of America
- The Oceanography Society
- United Nations World Oceans Assessment Program
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
Links (1)
Media Appearances (4)
SUU Awarded Nearly $4 Million Apprenticeship Grant
SUU University News online
2020-02-25
“This grant is not only a major win for Southern Utah University, but also in our efforts to grow the emerging job sectors of the 21st Century,” said Dr. Frank Hall, dean of SUU’s College of Science and Engineering.
SUU Names New Dean of College of Science and Engineering
Deseret News online
2019-05-22
Frank R. Hall, who has over two decades of experience in administration and service at the university level, will oversee SUU’s agriculture, nutrition science, biology, computer science, information systems, engineering, engineering technology, mathematics, nursing and physical science programs.
New Dean for the College of Science and Engineering
SUU University News online
2019-05-20
Southern Utah University is excited to announce that after an extensive national search, Dr. Frank R. Hall has been chosen to serve as the new Dean for the Walter Maxwell Gibson College of Science and Engineering. Hall has over two decades of experience in administration and service at the university level. His past academic appointments included Dean of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology at Saginaw Valley State University, Full Professor and Dean of the School of Education, Health and Natural Science at Worcester State University, faculty positions at the University of New Orleans and University of Delaware, and was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Colorado.
It Takes a Community to Raise a Teacher
TEDx Talks online
2015-09-15
Dr. Frank R. Hall joined Saginaw Valley State University as Dean, College of Science Engineering & Technology in June 2015. He brings a broad set of experiences in scientific research, education, and policy; and worked in academia, federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations on STEM related issues. Prior to coming to SVSU, Frank was a member of the Working Group to define STEM for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, working to establish a definition beyond the acronym.
Research Grants (4)
Active Learning Classroom
The Steelcase Foundation $64,000
F.R. Hall and P. Kumar
Bivalve Aquaculture as a Means to Ameliorate Atmospheric CO2
Strategic Planning Funds Initiative 2014 $79,000
F.R. Hall and S. Oliver
Obama Leadership Academy of the Parks
Department of the Interior: National Park Service $100,000
2012-03-12
Matthew Johnson, F.R. Hall and others
Building of Our Success: A Proposal to Enhance and Improve Minority Student Recruitment and Retention in the Geosciences at the University of New Orleans
National Science Foundation $839,529
L. Serpa and F.R. Hall, 2001-2006
Articles (3)
Advancing the REVOLUTION: Using Earth Systems Science to Prepare Elementary School Teachers in an Urban Environment
Journal of Geoscience EducationFrank E. Hall and Cory A. Buxton
2018-01-31
The Earth and Space sciences provide opportunities for content learning in inquiry-based classrooms, emphasizing ways in which science is relevant to the lives of both students and teachers. We are successfully using an Earth Systems approach to prepare preservice elementary school teachers in understanding science content and pedagogy with emphases in technology and mathematics. Using Lake Pontchartrain as the unifying theme across four courses, students learn not only science content, but also scientific process. Students perform research projects on Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River, and develop models of changes in water quality that are directly comparable to longitudinal data being collected by research laboratories, Our approach fosters students': a) understanding of science and the scientific process, b) self-confidence in teaching science, c) knowledge of state science-education standards, d) ability to accurately research and prepare lessons on science topics, and e) positive attitudes towards scientific fields of study. Accomplishing these goals required on-going collaboration between the Colleges of Sciences and Education. Surveying and field-testing results suggest that the pre-service teachers in our classes are likely to apply the approach used in our courses to science teaching in their own classrooms.
Abrupt Deglaciation Events and Holocene Palaeoceanography From High‐Resolution Cores, Cartwright Saddle, Labrador Shelf, Canada
Journal of Quaternary ScienceJ.T. Andrews, L. Keigwin, F. R. Hall and Anne E. Jennings
1999-08-06
The uppermost Quaternary sediments in Cartwright Saddle, Labrador Shelf, are acoustically laminated, with reflectors that can be traced over long distances. Two piston cores from the saddle record changes in sediment and meltwater delivery from the northeast margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) during deglaciation. Variations in sediment properties indicate a similar history of sediment accumulation over the last 12 kyr. The temporal sampling interval reaches decadal resolution in the last deglacial period 7–9 ka. Analyses of total carbonate content, sediment magnetic variables, foraminiferal species and stable isotope measurements on planktic foraminifers show that abrupt changes occurred ca. 10.9, 9.2, 8.8, 7.9 and 7 ka (with 450 yr correction). There was no distinct change in sediment character during much of the Younger Dryas chronozone. In the δ18O record, the 8.8 ka event is a dramatic 1‰ shift toward lower values, which we associate with the Noble Inlet glacial event within Hudson Strait. We do not see the pronounced low δ18O event at 7.1 ka reported off Nova Scotia, but surprisingly, neither the Nova Scotia records nor other records in the Labrador Sea capture the impressive 8.8 ka change. Serious consideration must be given to the final collapse of the LIS as the cause of the 8.2 cal. ka cold event recorded in Greenland and northwest Europe. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Late Quaternary Sediments and Chronology of the Northeast Labrador Shelf : Links to Glacial History
Geological Society of America BulletinFrank R. Hall ; John T. Andrews ; Anne Jennings ; Gustav Vilks ; Kate Moran
1999-11-01
Core HU87033-015, an 11-m-long giant piston core from the western end of Karlsefni Trough, was taken only 25 km from the coast of northernmost Labrador. The regional acoustic framework was established via a high-resolution, deep-towed (Huntec DTS) seismic survey. We recognized four acoustic facies that are associated with designated and recovered major lithologic units. The ages of these units were determined from 13 accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dates from marine biogenic carbonates. These results suggest that glacial ice was present on the shelf from at least the mid-Wisconsinan and that the basal sequence contains reworked glacial-marine diamicton. Furthermore, our data provide the first evidence that the northern Labrador inner shelf was ice free by ca. 11 14C ka. The bulk of the postglacial deposition was around 8.2 ka and consists of increased detrital carbonate deposition. The deposition of this detrital carbonate is age equivalent with DC-0 on the southeastern Baffin Shelf and in the North Atlantic.
