Charles Bicak, Ph.D.

Charles Bicak, Ph.D.

Senior Vice Chancellor, University of Nebraska at Kearney 

Dr. Charles Bicak is the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs (SVCASA) at UNK and a Professor of Biology.

Dr. Bicak graduated with a B.S.Ed. from Kearney State College in 1974. He earned the M.S. in Plant Science from the University of British Columbia and the Ph.D. in Range Science from Colorado State University. He taught biology at California State University, Bakersfield, for nine years, rising to tenured full professor and Chair of the Department of Biology. In 1992, he joined UNK’s faculty. He served as Assistant to the Dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences from 1993-1995 and Chair of the Department of Biology from 1997-2004. In 2005, he accepted an appointment as Dean of Natural Sciences at Saint Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, where he has also served as both President of the University’s Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, a corporation which promotes environmental education, research, and preservation, and President of the Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium, a group of twenty-one Texas colleges and universities.

Dr. Bicak’s research has focused on plant/ecosystem response to environmental stress, as well as enhancing student participation in scientific inquiry. His teaching interests at three institutions, including St. Edwards, have ranged from freshman biology to graduate courses in plant physiology, plant ecology, and rangeland and wildlife management.