Why study Biology at Lyon College?

Lyon biology majors gain valuable skills for graduate school through hands-on research, collaboration with faculty members, or placement at other institutions. Many students have participated in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program.

In collaboration with White River Medical Center, Lyon offers a health coaching program. This program pairs students with patients discharged from the hospital and helps to assure them that they are following physicians’ instructions and attending follow-up appointments. For over a decade, Lyon students achieved an acceptance rate more than twice the national average when applying to professional health-related schools!

Lyon College's core curriculum emphasizes civic education, challenging aspiring biologists to engage with issues outside the lab. Graduates often report that, while taking courses in the humanities and social sciences seemed irrelevant to their future careers, these courses ultimately became crucial to their lives.

Faculty Members:

Dr. David Thomas, Dr. Cassia Oliveira, Dr. Maryline Jones, Dr. Alexander Beeser, Dr. Eric South

Ways To Get Involved 

Lyon students have recently formed a chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA). Biology students are also involved in a wide range of campus organizations, such as Mortar Board and Chi Beta Phi honor societies, fraternities and sororities, the pipe band, chorus, and other musical groups.

Student Spotlight

“The most important skills for both veterinary school and my career are problem solving and interpersonal skills. Lyon provided me with a venue to develop both. A small school with closely-knit relations between students and professors allows professors the opportunity to challenge students’ problem solving skills in unique ways.”

​– Matthew Gunter ’97, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.

Interesting places

Graduates of the biology program have gone to graduate school at Tulane University, Louisiana State University, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, University of Hawaii, and the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine; and to jobs at the University of Iowa Health Care, St. Vincent, the White River Medical Center, the University of Dallas, Arkansas State Police’s crime lab, Little Rock Zoo, and Teach for America.