He could have chased money in the corporate world, but a new UNT dean found his rewards in academia

John Quintanilla describes himself as a kid in very '80s terms.

"I was a huge math nerd as a kid," said Quintanilla, who joined the faculty of the University of North Texas in 1996 and recently won a plum new role as the dean of the College of Science.

The College of Science is the second-largest college in the university and one of the colleges that drives the school's innovation as a Carnegie Tier 1 Research Institution.

Currently, about 4,000 students are studying in the College of Science, preparing for careers in natural, physical, mathematical and medical sciences. Its students prepare through classroom instruction and work in cutting-edge research and scholarship.

Quintanilla is now at the helm of a college with the kinds of bona fides that have made state legislators sit up and take notice, even going so far as asking the 88th Legislature to create new funding resources for UNT and peer colleges in the state that are contributing to scientific research.

Faculty in the UNT college have collected top awards in their disciplines, are consistently named some of the world's most cited researchers and are engaged in research that has earned millions in public grants. The College of Science might not have the longstanding shine of the Ivy League schools, but Mean Green science and math students -- especially graduate students -- have an opportunity to join projects that could change medicine, biology, ecology and more.

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