School of Medicine

Biography

Maria Cole is an Associate Professor  in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences. Prior to joining UMKC, she was a faculty member in the Department of Anatomy at Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences from 1997 to 2016. During that time Dr. Cole taught in both the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the College of Biosciences. Dr. Cole has received numerous teaching awards, including the Missouri Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She also served as the Executive Director of Academic & Institutional Research, the Interim Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation and KCU’s Accreditation Liaison Officer. She is currently a peer evaluator for both the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation and the Higher Learning Commission and has over twenty years of progressive experience in higher education, strategic planning, accreditation, assessment and program review, and curriculum development.

Prior her employment at KCU, Dr. Cole taught at Yale University and Howard University in the Schools of Medicine and of Dentistry. From 1993 to 1996 she was a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution in the Divisions of Mammalogy and Physical Anthropology. Dr. Cole holds a Doctorate in Anatomical Sciences from Stony Brook University and a Master’s of Science in Medical Education Leadership from the University of New England. She is also a graduate of the Harvard-Macy Program for Physician Educators.