Meet the People Who Help Power Higher Education in Worcester

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Massachusetts, ranked by U.S. & World Report as the No. 1 Most Educated State, boasts a thriving hub of higher education in Worcester, MA. The city is home to 35,000+ students and eight colleges and universities. This provides a dynamic environment for professors and researchers. 

Meet three professors from three institutions, who have flourished in their higher education careers and made an impact in Worcester. 

Higher Education in Worcester Goes Global

Prior to accepting her position at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Dr. Mimi Sheller, dean of The Global School at WPI, served as head of the sociology department at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Worcester proved to be her next career move. 

“I was attracted to WPI the moment I learned about its incredible global projects program that allows every student to have an off-campus research experience for a full seven-week term,” Sheller says. “I immediately recognized the significant impact that such a transformative global experience could have on students.” 

She’s now seeing that impact pay off in real time. 

“Undergraduates at WPI’s Puerto Rico Project Center and graduate students in our master’s in Community Climate Adaptation program are working with communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to create resilience hubs, build technical capacities, create disaster risk maps and communicate with wider partners,” Sheller says. “WPI is making contributions to global efforts around sustainability, climate adaptation, social equity and global health.” 

Sheller currently serves as a principal investigator in two national projects funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In addition, she frequently hosts nearby colleagues for educational panels and participates in similar events at area schools. 

“Worcester is a dynamic, exciting and versatile academic hub where researchers, faculty and students are not afraid to apply their findings to the real world,” Sheller says. “Whatever your field is, you will find a place full of potential partners, innovators, entrepreneurs and folks who want to make the world a better place.” 

Quinsigamond Community College

Inclusivity and Equity 

Anita Soracco, a physics and environmental sciences professor and Natural Sciences Department coordinator at Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), studied in Worcester. After completing her education at WPI, she worked as an environmental consulting engineer for four years before securing a position as visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science. 

“As luck would have it, as my visiting scholar position was ending, QCC was hiring,” Soracco says. “Growing up in the Worcester area, I had always been impressed by the mission of the community college – accessible, affordable, high-quality education to serve a diverse population.” 

In her role, Soracco developed an environmental science transfer program that allows students to complete two years of an environmental science degree at QCC, then complete a bachelor’s degree at a partner college. 

“The community college has such a pivotal role in terms of inclusivity and equity,” Soracco says. “To be a part of that story is very gratifying.” 

Worcester is one of New England’s fastest-growing cities and experienced about $4.5 billion of major economic development over the past decade. 

“Colleges have a vibrancy and energy that you can’t find anywhere else,” Soracco says. “As areas in Worcester are redeveloped, it invites community engagement and encourages students from all the colleges to interact. More businesses are opening every day, which creates jobs, and we have a great supply of educated and capable folks to serve those roles.” 

Groundbreaking Work 

Dr. Guangping Gao, professor and director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center at UMass Chan Medical School, is an internationally recognized gene therapy researcher. Gao was recruited by UMass Chan Medical School in 2008 to set up and lead a new gene therapy center. 

Gao’s work in the field up to that point played a key role in reviving the gene therapy field through the discovery and characterization of a new family of adeno-associated virus serotypes. 

“It started with just me and Dr. Terence Flotte,” Gao says. “Sixteen years later, we have 12 tenure-track faculty members and six research faculty members.” 

Their department regularly collaborates with others on groundbreaking work, like human clinical trials for rare genetic diseases. Established in 2022, the Translational Institute for Molecular Therapeutics includes infrastructure to assist investigators with manufacturing, regulatory matters and investigational new drug-enabling studies needed to conduct first-in-human clinical trials. 

“From initial discoveries to animal model testing for clinical proof of concept and large animal therapeutic efficacy study to translation for human use and the human clinical trial, we just run the whole nine yards,” Gao says. 

Gao notes the collegial and collaborative environment that allows this is what makes UMass unique. 

“This collaborative culture, coupled with supportive administration and leadership, is one of the magnets for Umass Chan Medical School,” he says. “Through this collaboration, we have made substantial progress in gene therapy.”