Dr. Lawrence G. Abele

Dr. Lawrence G. Abele was appointed Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs on November 8, 1994, having served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs from July 11, 1994. From 1991 to 1994 he served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida State. Prior to serving as dean he was Chairperson of the Department of Biological Science for an eight year period (1983-91). A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Abele grew up in Miami and was educated in the public schools of Dade County, Florida. He received his B.S. (1968) and M.S. (1970) degrees in Biology from Florida State University and his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami (1972) and was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in the Republic of Panama (1973).

Dr. Abele began his career as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University in 1973. He continued on with Florida State as associate professor, professor, associate chairman for graduate studies, chairperson, dean and now provost.

In 1985 Dr. Abele received Florida State University's Outstanding Chairman Award and in 1990 the Loretta C. Ellias Teaching Award. In addition to being recognized as an outstanding teacher, Dr. Abele has received more than one and one-quarter million dollars in research funding. Dr. Abele's primary research interests include the biology of crustaceans (crabs and shrimps) and since 1987 he has been working on molecular evolution of this group. His research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation and the Sloan Foundation. He has written and published more than 75 scientific articles and, with one of his students, has twice received the Outstanding Paper Award from The Crustacean Society. He has conducted field research in Central America, West Indies, Australia, Bermuda, Ascension Island, and Mexico.

Dr. Abele has served recently on advisory committees for the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution and other governmental agencies. He was Associate Editor of Paleobiology and the Journal of Crustacean Biology as well as President of The Crustacean Society. In 1988 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.