Eric L. Hegg

Eric L. Hegg has served as dean of Michigan State University’s College of Natural Science since September 2024, providing leadership across the college’s academic, research, student, and advancement priorities. Under his leadership, the college continues to strengthen its commitment to scientific discovery, student success, and interdisciplinary collaboration while expanding opportunities to invest in people, programs, and facilities that advance the future of science. 

During his tenure, Dean Hegg has helped advance major initiatives across the College of Natural Science, including efforts to secure philanthropic support for new faculty positions, scholarships, and strategic priorities. He played a leading role in advancing the new Plant and Environmental Sciences Building, a $200 million, 200,000-square-foot facility that will bring together researchers from the College of Natural Science and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dean Hegg also has been a key collaborator with the College of Engineering and other academic partners in the development of the new Leinweber Center for Engineering and Digital Innovation, an interdisciplinary facility that will support research and teaching across six colleges. 

The College of Natural Science experienced a record year of fundraising in fiscal year 2025-26, raising $30.2 million, more than $9 million above its previous fundraising record. Philanthropic support during Dean Hegg’s tenure has established five new endowed chairs/professorships and expanded scholarship opportunities, while also supporting major capital projects and other priorities across the college. 

Dean Hegg joined Michigan State University’s Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology in 2006. Before becoming dean, he served as the College of Natural Science’s Associate Dean for Budget, Planning, Research, and Administration from 2020 to 2024. Prior to serving as associate dean, Dean Hegg was Director of Business Operations for the MSU component of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, a position he held for approximately seven years. He also served as co-Associate Director of the Center for Catalysis in Biomimetic Confinement, the Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, from 2022 to 2024. 

Dean Hegg’s research is at the interface of chemistry and biochemistry, where he focuses on environmentally important processes, including biofuel production and enzymes involved in the global nitrogen cycle. He has authored nearly 90 manuscripts and book chapters and holds multiple patents. His laboratory has received funding from a variety of organizations, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has mentored nearly 100 students and postdoctoral researchers in his laboratory, including more than 50 undergraduate students. 

Dean Hegg was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019. He received the Cottrell Scholars Award as well as the 2025 Cottrell IMPACT Award, which recognizes outstanding teacher-scholars. He also was named a 2016 Academic Leadership Program Fellow by the Big Ten Academic Alliance and a 2017 Leadership Fellow through Michigan State University’s Academic Advancement Network. 

Before joining MSU, Dean Hegg was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah. Dean Hegg earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Minnesota before joining the faculty at the University of Utah. 

## Administrative Positions

* 2024 – Present, Dean, College of Natural Science, Michigan State University
* 2022 – 2024, Co-Associate Director, Center for Catalysis in Biomimetic Confinement (CCBC), DOE Energy Frontier Research Center, Michigan State University
* 2020 – 2024, Associate Dean for Budget, Planning, Research, and Administration in the College of Natural Science, Michigan State University
* 2013 – 2019, Director, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) Business Operations, Michigan State University

## Academic Positions

* 2014 – Present, Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michigan State University
* 2006 – 2014, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michigan State University
* 2006, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Utah
* 1999 – 2006, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Utah
* 1997 – 1999, NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota
* 1996 – 1997, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota

## Awards and Honors

* 2025 Cottrell IMPACT Award, Research Corporation for Science Advancement
* 2019 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
* 2017 Leadership Fellow, Academic Advancement Network, Michigan State University
* 2016 Academic Leadership Program Fellow, Big Ten Academic Alliance
* 2012 Visiting Scholar Fellowship, The Wenner-Gren Foundation, Stockholm University, Sweden
* 2004 NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
* 2002 Cottrell Scholars Award, Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement

## Recent News

* [April, 2025 Eric Hegg honored with IMPACT award](https://natsci.msu.edu/news/2025/2025-04-eric-hegg-honored-with-impact-award.aspx)
* [October, 2024 Meet the Dean: Eric Hegg from the MSU College of Natural Science](https://www.wkar.org/show/msu-today-with-russ-white/2024-10-14/meet-the-dean-eric-hegg-from-the-msu-college-of-natural-science)
* [September, 2024 MSU trustees approve construction of new Plant and Environmental Sciences Building](https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/09/msu-trustees-approve-construction-of-new-plant-and-environmental-sciences-building)
* [2024 Eric Hegg recommended as dean of MSU’s College of Natural Science](https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/07/eric-hegg-recommended-as-dean-of-msu-college-of-natural-science)
* [October, 2023 MTRAC Award supports NatSci researcher’s work to transform $165 billion pulp and paper industry](https://natsci.msu.edu/news/2023-10-mtrac-award-supports-natsci-researchers-work-to-transform-165-billion-pulp-and-paper-industry.aspx)
* [May, 2019 Eric Hegg: Testifying on behalf of science](https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2019/05/eric-hegg-testifying-on-behalf-of-science)

## Links

* [Current Research](https://bmb.natsci.msu.edu/labs/hegg-lab/current-research.aspx)
* [Recent Publications](https://bmb.natsci.msu.edu/labs/hegg-lab/recent-publications.aspx)
* [Google Scholar Citations](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e30WGXIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao)
* [Hegg Lab Members](https://bmb.natsci.msu.edu/labs/hegg-lab/hegg-lab-members.aspx)
* [Previous Hegg Lab Members](https://bmb.natsci.msu.edu/labs/hegg-lab/previous-hegg-lab-members.aspx)