VGCC names new head of Bioprocess Technology program

Vance-Granville Community College recently named Dr. Tara Rutledge Hamilton as the new head of the college’s Bioprocess Technology program. Hamilton, who lives in Raleigh, has been a member of the VGCC faculty since 2010 and has taught Bioprocess, Biology and Chemistry courses as well as the BioWork training program.

 

Hamilton earned her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Old Dominion University. She later completed a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky. Hamilton was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the department of Cell Biology at Duke University, and was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein fellowship from the National Institutes of Health. She also received a Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund Graduate Fellowship and a National Cancer Institute Training Fellowship. She has co-authored a number of articles published in academic journals.

 

Hamilton taught Chemistry and Biology at Louisburg College for four years prior to joining VGCC. She also served as an Environmental Compliance Peer Auditor and EPA Coordinator for Science there.

 

At VGCC, Hamilton has served on the Academic Affairs, Safety and Sustainability committees. She has also taught middle school students at VGCC’s annual summer Science Camp, and high school students at the college’s first Biotech Workshop in 2013.

 

“Dr. Tara Hamilton has been an outstanding educator as a member of our faculty, and we look forward to her leadership of the Bioprocess program, which trains students for careers in our state’s growing STEM and advanced manufacturing fields,” said Dr. Angela Ballentine, VGCC’s vice president of academic and student affairs.

 

VGCC’s Bioprocess Technology curriculum is designed to prepare students to work as process operators or quality control analysts in biological products manufacturing facilities. Students combine basic science and communication skills, manufacturing technologies, and good manufacturing practices in the course of the study. Vance-Granville is part of the North Carolina Community College System’s BioNetwork , a statewide initiative that connects community colleges that serve the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, providing specialized training, curricula and equipment.

 

The Bioprocess Technology associate degree program is based at VGCC’s Main Campus, but courses are also offered periodically at the Franklin County Campus. For more information on the program, call Dr. Hamilton at (252) 738-3285 .

 

Above:  Dr. Tara Rutledge Hamilton, the new head of VGCC’s Bioprocess Technology program, is seen here in the biotechnology lab on the college’s main campus. That is one of VGCC’s two state-of-the-art biotech labs, the other being located at the Franklin County Campus. (VGCC photo)