![Photo of Marty Shankland](/sites/default/files/2011%20Revised_0009_Shankland%2C%20Marty.jpg)
Marty Shankland, Ph.D.
Professor
Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
UT Austin
I never enter a classroom without remembering my own college experiences, and those memories inspire me to reach out in any way I can to establish trust and communication with my students. Teaching them what I know is an essential but nonetheless minimal first step. The real trick is helping them discover their own potential: the confidence to tackle a thorny problem; the liberation of seeing "I don't know" as a starting point rather than an end.