Speakers

John Z. Kiss is a distinguished plant space biologist who has built an exceptional career spanning research, teaching, and academic administration. He served as principal investigator or co-investigator on 9 spaceflight projects on the former Space Shuttle, the ISS, and most recent on Blue Origin’s New Shepard Vehicle.  After earning his Ph.D. in botany and plant physiology from Rutgers University, Kiss began his academic journey as a NASA Research Associate at the University of Colorado before joining the faculty at Hofstra University. He spent 19 years at Miami University, where he established himself as a leading researcher in gravitational and space biology, earning recognition as Distinguished Scholar and Researcher of the Year. Kiss has served as principal investigator on nine spaceflight projects involving NASA, the European Space Agency, and various space agencies, with experiments conducted on the Space Shuttle, Mir space station, International Space Station, and Blue Origin vehicles. Throughout his career, he has secured $11 million in research funding from NASA, USDA, NSF, and NIH. His administrative leadership includes serving as Dean of Graduate School at the University of Mississippi (2012-2016) and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC Greensboro (2016-2024), where he increased external research funding from $5 million to $14 million annually. Currently, he serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Florida Institute of Technology, bringing his commitment to the teacher-scholar model that balances research excellence with educational impact.