Dr. Susan Hardin received an undergraduate degree in Biology at Penn State University in 1982, and a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from Indiana University in 1987. She performed postdoctoral work at Brandeis University in Waltham Massachusetts. Dr. Hardin became the Director of the Gene Technologies Laboratory at Texas A&M University in 1991, joined the faculty at the University of Houston as an Assistant Professor of Biology and Biochemistry in 1995, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002. In August 2005, she resigned her tenured professorship, but retains Adjunct Professor status.

Dr. Hardin is an active member of the Association of Biomolecular Research Facilities and was elected to the ABRF Executive Board. She is a 2004 American Women in Computing, Houston, Top Women in Technology Honoree, and was recently inducted to the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering 2006 College of Fellows. In 2006 she will also receive a Penn State Eberly College of Science Outstanding Science Alumni Award. "The Outstanding Science alumni Awards are presented annually to recognize and reward outstanding Penn State alumni for their success as leaders in science and for the impact they have had and will continue to have on society and their professions."

Dr. Hardin's research interests are in the areas of molecular genetics and biotechnology, especially with respect to the mechanisms of enzymatic DNA synthesis and DNA replication. She has published papers on novel methods for sequencing DNA, has issued patents, and several patents pending.