Gabriele Wienhausen, Ph.D.

Professor Wienhausen received her Ph.D. from Westfälische Wilhelms Universität in 1979 and joined the UC San Diego faculty in 1987. Her research is focused on how to promote "meaningful learning" in college science teaching, and how to facilitate the development of effective problem-solving skills. 

A consummate educator and administrator, Dr. Wienhausen has provided extraordinary vision, coordinated diverse constituencies, and worked tirelessly in several leadership roles that profoundly impact students. In 2015, she was appointed inaugural Faculty Director of the Teaching + Learning Commons (The Commons), established with the aim to significantly enhance teaching and learning at UC San Diego, and to further our campus' strategic goal to become a more student-centered university. She has since established an exceptional leadership team and organized the Commons into six hubs that provide programs and services for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty: Engaged Teaching, Academic Achievement, Digital Learning, Writing + Critical Expression, Education Research and Assessment, and Experiential Learning. They work together as a single entity that promotes integration, connection, and ongoing assessment of initiatives leading to an engaged educational environment.

As Associate Dean for Education in the Division of Biological Sciences from 2007 to 2015, Professor Wienhausen provided leadership for the strategic and operational aspects of the Division's educational mission. Her broad portfolio as Associate Dean included increasing the effectiveness of the faculty's teaching, promoting the needs of a diverse faculty and student body, improving the quality of the educational experience for the Division's undergraduate and graduate students, and facilitating the implementation of educational activities with other schools and other departments on campus, as well as with community and K-12 schools. In this role she established the Center for Discovering Opportunities in Biological Sciences (do/bio), which supports student curricular and co-curricular engagement, intellectual explorations and professional development. She also established the BioPath Program, to help prepare Ph.D. students for a broad range of career paths ranging from faculty positions at research universities and teaching colleges through positions in private industry to leadership roles in science communication and policy.

Dr. Wienhausen served as founding Provost of Sixth College from 2000 to 2007. She led the Sixth College Steering Committee, which developed the College’s innovative academic plan and a broad vision for delivering a novel approach to undergraduate education, at the core of which is Sixth College's three-quarter sequence for freshmen, Culture, Art and Technology (CAT). The plan was unanimously approved by the Academic Senate Representative Assembly. Also embedded in Sixth College's educational vision is the Practicum requirement for seniors, which aims to educate effective global citizens who are innovative, interconnected and aware. The Practicum engages students in service learning through communal work in both local and global communities while fostering an ethical obligation to service, promoting civic engagement and global consciousness, challenging students to connect their academic education to surrounding communities locally, nationally and globally.

Professor Wienhausen also served as founding faculty member and co-director of the UC San Diego/ SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Math and Science Education, Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded PRIME international summer research program, Principal Investigator for the Howard Hughes Science Enrichment Program, founding co-director of the COSMOS summer math and science initiative, co-founder of the Global TIES multidisciplinary internship program, and co-founder of the Center for Advancing Multidisciplinary Scholarship for Excellence in Education (CAMSEE), a diverse group of UC San Diego community members committed to advancing teaching and learning. She is a recipient of numerous teaching awards including the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Award in Undergraduate Teaching, and College teaching awards from Revelle, Muir, and Warren. She has been recognized with the Athena Pinnacle Award and the YWCA TWIN award.

Following 32 years of outstanding service to UC San Diego, Dr. Gabriele Wienhausen, Distinguished Teaching Professor of the Cell and Developmental Biology Section of the Division of Biological Sciences and inaugural Faculty Director of the Teaching + Learning Commons, announced her retirement effective July 1, 2019. She returned on recall through April 10, 2020.