Experience and Expertise

Leadership & Administrative Experience (26 years):

Dean of an Innovative Early-College Program (Missouri Academy) at Northwest Missouri State University: Providing guidance and supervision in the following areas: curriculum development and academic progress, student development, student recruitment, budgeting, facility support, developing rapport with all stakeholders (including students, parents, sending school districts, the Northwest community, government agencies, the universities and colleges that Missouri Academy graduates attend, and future employers), securing external support/writing grant proposals for funding, and travelling overseas regularly for recruiting and developing institutional partnerships.
Founding Director of the Honors Program at the Northwest Missouri State University, I led faculty in designing the curriculum for the Honors Program and the development of a successful vision for the success of the program.
Senior Associate for Academic Affairs at the Missouri Department of Higher Education: Reviewed and evaluated all new and existing academic degree programs at Missouri’s public and independent institutions of higher education to ensure viability and quality, and developed supportive statewide policy.
Director of the Title II Professional Development Program for the State of Missouri: Managed all aspects of state Title II federal funding to support professional development of K-12 Mathematics and Science teachers. Developed a program that awarded competitive grants for schools that designed and implemented professional development projects.
Commissioner’s Associate for Life Sciences at the Missouri Department of Higher Education: Coordinated Missouri’s life science initiatives and collaborated with Missouri’s colleges and universities, other state agencies and the life sciences industry agents on data analysis and policy development to address workforce supply and demand issues.
As member of the Extended Leadership Team at Northwest Missouri State University for over a 6-year period, I participated in the development of new mission/vision and the strategic planning model at University. This strategic planning model has since been a successfully cornerstone in creating performance targets and measurable goals.
As member of the Board for the Heartland Foundation, I participated in activities that promote the Board’s role as a catalyst, convener and connector to championing education and empowering people to build healthy communities in northern Missouri.
As a member of the Board of Trustees for the Advanced Academy of Georgia (an early-college program for high-performing high school students at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, GA), I created tools for the assessment of the effectiveness of early-college programs.

Dr. Cleo next to bookcase — Dr. Cleo Samudzi

Teaching & Mentoring Experience (37 years):

Classroom Teaching: Designed and taught undergraduate courses in biology, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, colloquium, biotechnology & ethics, and graduate courses in crystallography & structural biology.
Student Advising and Mentoring: Mentored, advised and coached high school students, undergraduates, graduate

Research Experience (30 years):

Research on Policy Issues at the Missouri Department of Higher Education: As Senior Associate for Academic Affairs, conducted research to study (a) academic degree programs at Missouri higher education institutions; (b) supply of graduates in life sciences versus the demand of these graduates in the industry in Missouri.
Basic Research in STEM at the University of Missouri-Columbia: Principal investigator in a macromolecular crystallography research laboratory – sought to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the interactions of DNA and methylases.
Basic Research in STEM at the National Cancer Institute: Associate scientist in a structural biology research laboratory – used x-ray crystallography techniques to study the structure and behavior of interferons and C-reactive proteins.
Basic Research in STEM at the University of Pittsburgh (PA): As a graduate student, participated in biochemistry and crystallography research to study the structure/function relationships between proteins (restriction endonucleases) and DNA.

Female students taking book from bookcase

What People Are Saying

Alice Zhang

Case Western Reserve University Graduate

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics & Master's Degree in Material Science

During my two years at the Missouri Academy, Dr. Cleo Samudzi helped me through the college application process by helping me choose a university that turned out to be a very good fit for me, and taught me a lot of the basic ethics that some of my current college classmates never formally learned.

Nabig Chaudhry

Harvard University Graduate

Earned Bachelor’s degree in Sociology

As a first-generation college student, I initially had very little idea on how to structure my essays, put together college applications, write resumes, and simply apply to competitive schools. His (Dr. Samudzi) guidance and expertise expanded what I believed I was capable of achieving.

Jay Taylor

PhD student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Over the next two years under his (Dr. Samudzi) guidance, I learned exceptional study habits, was exposed to many areas of study, and learned what it took to be successful in college.

Jason Zhang

Undergraduate student at the University of Chicago

Majoring in Neurosciences

You have taught me to become a responsible adult and given me the courage to strive for excellence in academics and in life. I am truly grateful for your dedicated leadership, educational expertise and personalize connections.

Leadership & Administrative Experience (26 years):

Teaching & Mentoring Experience (37 years):

Research Experience (30 years):

What People Are Saying

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