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• Interview: Hyndman, Arnold, 2016

  Born in Los Angeles, California, Dr. Hyndman was interested in science from a young age and was encouraged by his teachers to attend programs and assist with research, prompting a career in science and education. During his time in high school, he was able to participate in summer research programs with institutions such as the University of Southern California in their marine animal laboratory. Dr. Hyndman participated in a school walkout after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After graduating high school in 1970, Dr. Hyndman went on to attend Princeton University, majoring in Biology. Building on the work of his bachelor’s degree, Dr. Hyndman returned to California to attend graduate school at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1974 to 1978 and he earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy and Neuroscience. During his graduate work, Dr. Hyndman was actively involved in recruiting more students of color to the biology department. He also made quick use of the teaching credentials he obtained from Princeton, working, over the summers, with an Upward Bound program, bringing inner city young people to college and university campuses and preparing them for college life. Dr. Hyndman took his first post-doctoral assignment at Ohio State University in the medical school working on research, before finding himself presented with offers for positions at both the University of California (UCSD), San Diego and at Livingston College. Dr. Hyndman worked out a compromise wherein he asked Rutgers to hold the position for a year, while he went to UCSD to complete a second post-doctoral program. While working at UCSD, Dr. Hyndman and his collaborators developed a cell culture technique and were among the early describers of the natural cell division and replication of post-mitotic cells. Dr. Hyndman’s work helped to illustrate that there are cells in our brains that continue to divide. In 1981, Dr. Hyndman became assistant professor in the Department of Biological Science at Rutgers University, during which time the faculty reorganized into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). He served as the founding director of what was originally called the Minority Advancement Program and held this position until becoming associate provost in 1990. Dr. Hyndman established mechanisms to prime the coordination and funding for campus-based retention programs and provided administrative guidance for programs such as the establishment of the university’s Latino Cultural Center and the Asian Cultural Center. Dr. Hyndman then served as the Dean of Livingston College from 1993 until 2007. Since 2001, he has been the director of the Organizational Leadership Program. From 2001 to 2008, he also served as the director of the Criminal Justice Program. Dr. Hyndman is a professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience. Dr. Hyndman served on the New Jersey State Board of Education, in addition to consulting for organizations such as SLS and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. He has obtained numerous credentials, including being an ordained Christian Minister, a New Jersey Teaching Credential, and membership in such organizations as the International Leadership Society and the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. He also serves as Chair of the Elder Board at Abundant Life Community Church, a position he has held since 2012. Dr. Hyndman is Secretary and Treasurer on the Executive Board of the Warren County National Alliance on Mental Illness.