Academics
Faculty
John C. Van Houten
Leavy Family Professor of Chemistry
B.S. University of Delaware; Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara
Courses Taught: Advanced Inorganic Chemistry; Quantitative Analysis; Instrumental Analysis
Areas of Expertise: Excited state properties and processes in transition metal complexes; photochemistry; photophysics; luminescence; solar energy conversion; and excited-state electron transfer reactions
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Van Houten organized a major symposium on "Capturing and Storing Solar Energy – Inorganic Chemistry to the Rescue" for the American Chemical Society national meeting held in Salt Lake City in March 2009. The symposium featured 26 talks by some of the top scientists in the filed of inorganic photochemistry. Dr. Van Houten has also been featured in the article "Inorganic 'Jeopardy'" in Education, about the use of quizzes based on the popular television game show in his inorganic chemistry course at Saint Michael's.
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Van Houten feels that being an active researcher keeps him aware of the latest developments in his field. In class he often refers to his own experiences and the prominent scientists he has met through his resarch activities.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Van Houten enjoys astronomy, woodworking and playing tennis.
Learn more about Dr. Van Houten in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Cheray Science Hall 204
Phone: 802.654.2326
Box 195
E-mail: jvanhouten@smcvt.edu
Personal Web site: http://academics.smcvt.edu/chemistry/FACULTY/jvanhouten.htm
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Bret Findley
Associate Professor of Chemistry
B.A. Willamette University; Ph.D. Dartmouth College
View Dr. Findley's Curriculum Vitae
Courses Taught: General Chemistry I and II; Physical Chemistry I, II, and III; Concepts in Chemistry; Chemistry Senior Seminar
Areas of Expertise: Experimental Physical Chemistry; Photo-Induced Electron Transfer Reactions; Molecular Spectroscopy; Physical Chemistry Pedagogy
On Teaching and Research: While Dr. Findley enjoys teaching all of his classes, Physical Chemistry II is a favorite, he says, because the subject material, quantum mechanics and spectroscopy, challenges students to recognize that Newtonian physics does not adequately describe nature. He finds that this recognition opens up new ways of perceiving their surroundings.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Findley enjoys sports with racquets (especially squash and tennis), running, hiking, skiing of all varieties, gardening, bridge, and playing with his labradoodle, Maddy.
Learn more about Dr. Findley in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Cheray Hall 212
Phone: 802.654.2218
Box 131
E-mail: bfindley@smcvt.edu
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Alayne L. Schroll
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Biochemistry Program Coordinator
B.A. Russell Sage College; Ph.D. University of Minnesota
View Dr. Schroll's Curriculum Vitae
Courses Taught: Biochemistry I and II; Chemistry Senior Seminar; Organic Chemistry labs
Areas of Expertise: Bio-organic chemistry, more specifically the development of protecting groups for cysteine and selenocysteine for application in the laboratory synthesis of peptides and proteins
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Schroll co-authored the article (currently in press), "Further Development of New Deprotection Chemistry for Cysteine and Selenocysteine Side Chain Protecting Groups" in Proceedings of the 20th American Peptide Symposium (2008). She presented a poster on this work at several conferences, including at the Northeast Regional IDeA Conference, hosted by the Vermont Genetics Network. In 2007, Dr. Schroll was awarded a faculty development grant her work on "Synthesis, Purification, and Characterization of a New Selenocysteine Derivative for Use in Peptide/Protein Synthesis."
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Schroll's research helps her to be informed about recent developments, new tools, and instrumental advancements in the field of biochemistry.
Learn more about Dr. Schroll in her faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Cheray Science Hall 202
Phone: 802.654.2378
Box 277
E-mail: aschroll@smcvt.edu
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Shane Lamos
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
B.S. Saint Michael's College; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin
Courses Taught: Organic Chemistry; General Chemistry; Chemistry Senior Seminar
Areas of Expertise: Using Organic synthesis to develop new tools for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of proteins and metabolites
Recent Scholarly Achievements: In January 2009 Dr. Lamos was an invited speaker at the third annual Vermont Genetics Network Professional Development Seminar. There he delivered a talk on "Intergrating research into the organic chemisty curriculum." In 2007, Dr. Lamos published a paper in Analytical Chemistry titled "Relative Quantification of Carboylic Acid Metabolites by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry using Isotopic Variants of Cholamine." He has received over $200,000 in funded grants from the Vermont Genetics Network to support his research with undergraduate students at Saint Michael's College on new istopic labels in mass spectrometry.
On Teaching and Research: One of Dr. Lamos' favorite classes to teach is Organic Chemistry, because it is where he does his own scholarly research and he finds that he can bring that experience directly to the students in the classroom and laboratory.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Lamos enjoys fishing, botany, racquetball and hockey.
Campus Office
Cheray Science Hall 216
Phone: 802.654.2842
Box 352
E-mail: slamos@smcvt.edu
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Jennifer Paone-Vogt
Instructor of Chemistry/Laboratory Coordinator
B.A. Western Connecticut State University; M.A. Wayne State University
Campus Office
Cheray Science Hall 221
Phone: 802.654.2394
Box 134
E-mail: jpaone-vogt@smcvt.edu
Personal Web site: http://academics.smcvt.edu/chemistry/FACULTY/jpaonevogt.htm
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Michael H. Gianni
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
Ph.D. University of New Hampshire
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Stephan M. Kellner
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
Ph.D. University of Rochester
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Katherine Olgiati
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
Ph.D. Harvard University