Author Biography
For Elaine N. Marieb, taking the student's perspective into account has always been an integral part of her teaching style. Dr. Marieb began her teaching career at Springfield College, where she taught anatomy and physiology to physical education majors. She then joined the faculty of the Biological Science Division of Holyoke Community College in 1969 after receiving her Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. While teaching at Holyoke Community College, where many of her students were pursuing nursing degrees, she developed a desire to better understand the relationship between the scientific study of the human body and the clinical aspects of the nursing practice. To that end, while continuing to teach full time, Dr. Marieb pursued her nursing education, which culminated in a Master of Science degree with a clinical specialization in gerontology from the University of Massachusetts. It is this experience that has informed the development of the unique perspective and accessibility for which her publications are known.Dr. Marieb has partnered with Benjamin Cummings for over 30 years. Her first work was Human Anatomy & Physiology Laboratory Manual (Cat Version), which came out in 1981. In the years since, several other lab manual versions and study guides, as well as the softcover Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology textbook, have hit the campus bookstores. This textbook, now in its Ninth edition, made its appearance in 1989 and is the latest expression of her commitment to the needs of students studying human anatomy and physiology.Dr. Marieb has given generously to provide opportunities for students to further their education. She contributes to the New Directions, New Careers Program at Holyoke Community College by funding a staffed drop-in center and by providing several full-tuition scholarships each year for women who are returning to college after a hiatus or attending college for the first time and who would be unable to continue their studies without financial support. She funds the E. N. Marieb Science Research Awards at Mount Holyoke College, which promotes research by undergraduate science majors, and has underwritten renovation and updating of one of the biology labs in Clapp Laboratory at that college. Dr. Marieb also contributes to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she generously provided funding for reconstruction and instrumentation of a cutting-edge cytology research laboratory. Recognizing the severe national shortage of nursing faculty, she underwrites the Nursing Scholars of the Future Grant Program at the university.In 1994, Dr. Marieb received the Benefactor Award from the National Council for Resource Development, American Association of Community Colleges, which recognizes her ongoing sponsorship of student scholarships, faculty teaching awards, and other academic contributions to Holyoke Community College. In May 2000, the science building at Holyoke Community College was named in her honor.In January 2012, Florida Gulf Coast University named a new health professions facility Dr. Elaine Nicpon Marieb Hall. With the help of Dr. Marieb's generous donation, this facility contains laboratories in the School of Nursing that simulate an operating room, intensive-care unit, a labor and delivery room, and general medical surgical suites. She has also established a scholarship endowment for non-traditional students in the health professions, and an endowment to enhance the activities of faculty, students, and staff within health professions to support education, research, and community outreach.Dr. Marieb is an active member of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Additionally, while actively engaged as an author, Dr. Marieb serves as a consultant for the Benjamin Cummings Interactive Physiology(R) CD-ROM series.When not involved in academic pursuits, Dr. Marieb is a
