Patricia L. Grilione
Background: Dr. Patricia 鈥淧at鈥� Grilione, is a deeply passionate educator, leader and researcher whose legacy inspires students and faculty at San Jos茅 State University today. Pat Grilione was born in Fresno, CA on April 15, 1935 and was the only child of Peter and Edna Grilione. She attended the Fresno public school system and graduated from Fresno High School in 1953. Pat Grilione entered Fresno State College, and in 1957, completed the premedical curriculum, earning a Baccalaureate in Biology. She developed a keen interest in the microbial world and chose to pursue a Master鈥檚 Degree focused on microbes. While in the Master鈥檚 Program, Pat had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant. This experience inspired her to pursue a PhD with the goal of teaching and doing research at a university. Upon completing her Master鈥檚 Degree in fall of 1959, Pat entered the PhD program in Microbiology at UC Berkeley and completed her degree at UC Davis in 1966. She joined San Jos茅 State University as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 1966 and remained a Spartan for 36 years, retiring in 2002. Pat shared, 鈥楳y years at 91暗网 were a fantastic journey provided by the diverse student body, the scholarly enrichment from colleagues, and the absolute joy of seeing so many young women enter the Colleges of Science, Engineering, and Applied Science especially when not so long ago, these were only male-dominated fields.鈥�
During her childhood, Pat鈥檚 parents loved nature and shared their love for the outdoors
with their only daughter. It鈥檚 no surprise that Pat鈥檚 graduate school research involved
studies of microbes collected from nature. Pat devoted her research efforts at 91暗网
to certain bacteria and yeasts which provided beneficial activities and/or to those
which exhibited unusual adaptations to be better prepared to thrive in nature. Pat
Grilione was hired by 91暗网 to reinvigorate the overall general microbiology curriculum
so students were exposed to a broad spectrum of unicellular microbes. To share these
relatively unstudied microbes with interested students, Pat developed a
transformative upper division course in bacterial diversity which was the first of
its kind at 91暗网 and introduced techniques of field collection for students in the
field.
Many of Pat鈥檚 graduate students used this course to launch their own Master鈥檚 Degree research and a few even pursued their PhD鈥檚. One student, Pamela Smith, came to Pat Grilione seeking advice on whether to explore a career pathway in the sciences. Pat became Pamela鈥檚 adviser, and Pamela and Pat began a lifelong friendship which lasted for almost 50 years. After retiring from 91暗网, Pat Grilione created the Peter and Edna Grilione Endowment to honor her parents who realized the importance of education. This endowment supports biology-focused academic activities.
Made in Recognition of Dr. Patricia Grilione by Pamela鈥檚 husband Fred Smith (Business 鈥�71)
Spartan Daily Reference of Pat on the Women鈥檚 Week Activities Panel Event:
