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Laura Burrack is a Professor of Biology. Her area of expertise is in microbiology and molecular genetics. Professor Burrack has an active research program at Gustavus with undergraduates that focuses on better understanding how fungal pathogens, such as Candida albicans, an organism that causes infections in humans like thrush and candidemia, evolve resistance and tolerance to antifungal drugs. 

Professor Burrack has contributed to eighteen peer-reviewed scientific papers and has co-authored multiple research papers with Gustavus students. She recently won the Janet Anderson Award from the Midstates Consortium for Math and Sciences for her work mentoring students in undergraduate research. 

She teaches classes in the Biology department such as Cellular and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Cancer Biology. She was the Program Director for the Challenge Seminar Program from 2022—2025 and is currently the Chair of the Biology Department. 

When not in the classroom or the lab, Professor Burrack enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with cooking and baking.  

Laura Burrack CV

Music scholarships at Gustavus support students who wish to continue their involvement in music, regardless of their major or minor.

Matt Panciera is an associate professor of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. He truly enjoys teaching the languages - all levels of Greek and Latin - in addition to a wide range of classical studies courses; everything from Greek tragedy to Roman history. His research focuses on the incredible treasure trove of information found in the Pompeian graffiti scratched into the walls of the ancient city by its beautifully ordinary inhabitants before it was buried under the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He is extremely grateful to have been awarded on three occasions a NEH Summer Seminar for K-12 teachers where they, together with a team of distinguished scholars, explored the topic of of Roman daily life as seen in the Roman novelist Petronius and the archaeological and epigraphical remains of Pompeii. He has also worked on Roman funerary inscriptions including the epitaph of the unforgettable freedwoman, Allia Potestas.

Matt feels fortunate to have been hired on four different occasions by the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome and he is a passionate advocate for teaching and learning on site. He always finds himself experiencing ideas, making connections, and asking questions that would never occur to him without the inspiration of standing in the place where the ancient Greeks and Romans once lived their lives. He is happy to teach a class where the students "nerd out" and dive deep into the Greeks and Romans for their own sake. But ultimately he believes, both for himself and his students, the greatest benefit of spending time with the Greeks and Romans is how much we learn about ourselves and what we want to make of our own world.  

If pressed, on most days he would say his favorite classical authors to read in the original language are Homer and Ovid. He recognizes the beauty of Greek and the genius of so much that came to fruition in Athens in the 5th century BCE—the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, the birth of western philosophy, tragedy (Sophocles is his favorite)—but he is more at home in Latin and loves the way that reading Petronius and Pompeian graffiti feels like looking through a window directly at the ancient Romans. His favorite classical building is the Pantheon in Rome and his favorite site is Segesta in Sicily.

Outside of work he loves to cook for his family, visit the Boundary Waters, root for all the Boston teams (but also the Vikings), play golf, and exercise.