A graduate of University of Texas Permian Basin, Athenia Oldham has always loved science. Now she’s back at her alma mater as an associate professor of biology and chair of the biology department.
Oldham, who grew up in Midland, went to Midland College on a two-year scholarship. She went on to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biology from UTPB and her PhD in cell biology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Initially, she wanted to be a doctor, but then realized she didn’t. Dr. Douglas Henderson, one of her professors at UTPB, told her she could do research and teach, so that’s what she wound up doing.
“I … teach general biology for freshmen and then I teach graduate courses and those are molecular biology, virology and immunology,” Oldham said.
It seems people have become more interested in those fields in the last couple of years.
“This is the largest cohort,” Oldham said. “… It’s only 10 students, but usually I only have about five.”
Oldham has been teaching at UTPB since the fall of 2015 and said she has enjoyed her return.
“… All of my previous professors are now my colleagues and we had a great relationship when I was a student. We still have a really great relationship as colleagues,” she said.
There are nine professors in the department, including herself. Oldham said they work closely together.
“Dr. Henderson, he was my mentor when I was a student here and so the projects that we work on now, we collaborate,” she said.
Oldham said she liked biology even as a youngster.
“But again, … initially I thought I wanted to go to medical school. But then … working with Dr. Henderson, it was a lot of fun because he would take me to conferences every year and I’d get to present my results. I think we even published a paper when I was an undergraduate. …,” she added.
The conferences were always in big cities, so she got to travel, which she enjoyed.
“… I got to go to Washington, D.C. I got to go to … New Orleans. It was a lot of fun. He told me you can do this as a career. You’ll have to teach because it’s a university. …,” Oldham recalled.
She recently got over the hurdle of going up for tenure and promotion, so Oldham experienced some anxiety about that.
“But I like working with the faculty in my department because they’re all nice. They all respect each other. We all get along really well. That’s not always the case, so I really like that …,” Oldham said.
She and her husband, Robert Walker, met when they were students at UTPB. He works for the physical plant at the university.
They have a bunny and she is planning to get some turtles at some point this spring from Dr. Henderson.
Many students come into biology thinking they want to go to medical school.
“… About halfway through, some of them change their mind …,” Oldham said.
Some may go to school to become a physician assistant, but a lot of students still want to become donors.
“It’s just when they realize how much study it takes and you do need to make really good grades. When it gets to the MCAT, that’s where you know they take it two or three, or maybe even four times because the average MCAT score goes up a little bit every year. They’ll spend a good year studying for it …,” Oldham said.
It also costs a lot of money to prepare for it.
“… It’s very competitive and once they realize then reality sort of kicks in for a lot of them and they’ll change their mind about going to medical school, but they still get their degrees …,” she added.
Oldham said a lot of PhD programs like the one she went to pay for tuition and fees. They offer a stipend and insurance.
Oldham said she loves all of her courses, but molecular biology is a good foundation for any student that is interested in research or medical school.
“Because you learn like the, like the rapid antigen test. You know how it works because we talk about how it works. A PCR test, we go through all the steps. They understand the methodology. So, I’d have to say that would probably be my favorite,” she said.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Scott McKay said Oldham is very vested in the university and her students.
“She is a very popular faculty and mentor in the Biology Department. Dr. Oldham has taken a big step in leadership this year becoming the Chair of the Department. Increasing enrollment, research productivity and student engagement is on her agenda to move the department forward. She is working hard to continue the consistent growth in majors and support the world-class research going on the department in Biomedical Research. We know with her leadership and student engagement practices, great things are in store for the Department of Biology and UTPB,” McKay said in an email.
