About Me

As an Ohio native, I found my way to the South leaving me accentless but a lover of sweet tea. I spent my teenage years in Florida where the humidity is overbearing and the rain operates around a predictable schedule. After college, I made my way to Mississippi where I have been ever since.

It is quite lovely here.

My Inspiration

I like teaching

I have been teaching large sections of Chemistry I and II and a variety of other classes since 2014. I have taught, on average, 370 students per semester (cumulative total of 6285 students) not including summer terms.

Courses Taught:

CH-1213 – Chemistry I
CH-1223 – Chemistry II
CH-1141 – Prof. Chem: Paths
CH-2141 – Prof. Chem: Tools
CH-3141 – Prof. Chem: Literature
CH-4711 – Senior Seminar
CH-8990 – Prof. Chem: Current Problems (computational chemistry support)

Teaching Evaluation Summary

Below are the averages, by category, of 13 semesters (Fall 2014 – Fall 2020) of student evaluations in Chemistry I and II.

Legend for Plot

Global = Global Index
Expectations = Instructor created high expectations for the class
Effectiveness = Instructor conveyed the course content in an effective manner
Interesting = Instructor made class interesting
Enthusiasm = Instructor was enthusiastic about the course
Accessibility = Instructor was accessible outside of class time to respond to my questions or concerns
Learning = I learned a great deal in this class
Presentation = Presentation of course content helped me learn in this class
Exam Fairness = Tests were fair
Exam Reflection = Tests reflected material presented in lecture and/or assigned reading
Grading Time = Tests and/or assignments were graded within a reasonable period of time
Recommended = I would recommend this instructor to other students

Figure 1: Study session in the library before the exam (S’2017).

Figure 2: Getting hyped right before passing out the final exam (S’2017).

Figure 3: A student shows off his new haircut (S’2020).

Figure 4: The ‘Chemistry II’ is OVER party (S’2020) [Photo Credit: mdawg9 - Twitch Moderator and PI of the mdawg9 Theory of Relativity].

I have learned a lot from my students.

I like research

I was introduced to the world of computational chemistry as a sophomore undergraduate student in 2006 when I applied for a summer research job to help pay the bills. Prof. Robert A Vergenz was my mentor and he guided me into my first project, mapping out a reaction mechanism for a simple amino acid condensation reaction. In graduate school, Prof. Gregory S. Tschumper introduced convergent quantum chemistry to me and sophisticated methodologies. When I was a post-doc, Prof. C. Edwin Webster exposed me to a wide range of applications including NMR chemical shift modeling, organometallic chemistry, excited-state characterizations, and more.

I am very grateful to each of these incredible people.

I like SMACS

Be sure to check out the new SMACS website!

SMACS is the “Student Members of the American Chemical Society”, a professional organization for undergraduates interested in chemistry. I have been the faculty advisor to the Mississippi State SMACS chapter since 2016. We have managed to do a lot of great things with a lot of help from others.

It has been a lot of fun.

Some highlights:

First ChemDawg NCW Tailgate Extravaganza – Oct. 2018
First ACS ChemLuminary win by the Mississippi State SMACS group – Aug. 2019
First ACS Innovative Project Grant (for NCW 2019 Escape Rooms) – Aug. 2019
First SMACS-funded annual scholarship for chemistry majors (SMACS Chemistry Annual Excellence Scholarship) – Feb. 2020