Faculty and Staff Directory

Tenure-Track Faculty

Headshot of Noe T Alvarez

Noe T Alvarez

Assoc Professor, Chemistry

418T Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9370

My research interests are focused on carbon nanomaterials synthesis, assembly into macroscopic materials and their applications. Among the nanomaterials synthesized in my Lab are carbon nanotubes that are assembled into nanometer films and microscopic fibers with unique properties compared to macroscopic materials. Current applications are oriented to electrochemical and physiological sensors, as well as energy storage devices. I collaborate with faculty from engineering, Biology, and UC Medical school for the development of useful technological applications. Students in my group are normally exposed to the chemistry, physics and engineering aspects of nanomaterials. The research topics cover a broad range of topics such as: synthesis, electrochemistry, spectroscopy, biomaterials and biosensros.

Noe Alvarez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry. He received his Ph. D. in Chemistry from Rice University (2010), where he worked at the Richard Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology under supervision of James M. Tour and Robert H. Hauge on multiple aspects of single-walled CNTs. He earned M.Sc. from McNeese State University (2004), and B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon (Bolivia). After graduating from Rice he spent 6 months working on nanotube synthesis at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST – Japan). He has received a NASA tech award (2011) for his contribution to the development of scientific and technical innovation. 
More details about his research at UC can be found at: http://www.alvarezlab.com
Headshot of Neil Ayres

Neil Ayres

Associate Professor, Chemistry

704C Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9280

The AyresLab website is at ayreslab.squarespace.com

Neil Ayres received his Ph. D. in chemistry from The University of Warwick in 2003 where he worked with Prof. David Haddleton.  After a post-doc with Charles McCormick at The University of Southern Mississippi he worked with William Brittain at The University of Akron studying stimuli-responsive polymer brushes.  From there he spent two years as a post-doc at The University of Utah with Prof. David Grainger before becoming an assistant professor at The University of Cincinnati in 2008.

His current research interests include preparing stimulit responsive hydrogels and synthesizing porous polymers.
Headshot of Michael J. Baldwin

Michael J. Baldwin

Associate Professor, Interim Department Head, Chemistry

302 Crosley Tower

513-556-9225

Michael Baldwin is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati. He is an inorganic chemist with research interests in catalysis, spectroscopy, bioinorganic chemistry, and oxygen activation. He received a BS degree in chemistry from Seattle University in 1986, and a PhD in chemistry from Stanford University in 1992 for work with Edward Solomon on spectroscopic studies of copper-peroxide complexes modeling the oxygen transport protein oxyhemocyanin and the enzyme oxytyrosinase. As a NIH postdoctoral fellow with Professor Vincent Pecoraro at the University of Michigan, he worked on models of the photosynthetic oxygen evolving complex. In 1997, he joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati.
Headshot of Jonathan M. Breiner

Jonathan M. Breiner

Associate Professor, Chemistry

600D Teachers College

513-476-2555

Headshot of Ruxandra I Dima

Ruxandra I Dima

Professor, Chemistry

304 Crosley Tower

513-556-3961

Ruxandra Dima has an interdisciplinary training in theoretical and computational physics and physical chemistry. She is working in the areas of computational biophysical chemistry and biocheminformatics. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Bucharest, Romania in 1994, she studied at the Pennsylvania State University where she obtained her PhD in 1999. Her thesis was concerned with the determination of mean field free-energy potentials between amino acids in proteins. She then took a postdoctoral appointment with Prof. D. Thirumalai at the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland where she worked on problems related to protein aggregation, allostery, RNA folding and single-molecule biophysics. She joined the Department of Chemistry as an Assistant Professor in the Fall 2006. Since 2020 she is a Professor in Chemistry. 
The main areas of research in the Dima group are:
1) multiscale modeling of filamentous biomolecules
2) computational studies of the action of motors involved in cytoskeleton depolymerization
3) design and modeling of bio-inspired materials
4) development of machine learning methods for bio-design
5) GPU-based computing
We use a combination of molecular simulations, bioinformatics, data science, and theoretical modeling to address the various research problems.
More details are available on the group's webpage at https://sites.google.com/view/ruxandra-dima-lab/home
Headshot of Anthony Steven Grillo

Anthony Steven Grillo

Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Chemistry

902 Crosley Tower

513-556-1034

Group Website
www.GrilloLabUC.com

Anthony Grillo joined the University of Cincinnati in the Department of Chemistry as an Assistant Professor in 2022 with research interests in understanding the molecular underpinnings of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in disease with an emphasis on micronutrient (e.g. metals, oxygen, vitamins, etc.) metabolism.

Dr. Grillo obtained a B.S. in Biochemistry and B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan in 2011. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Organic Chemistry focus) in 2017 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the mentorship of Martin Burke as an NSF predoctoral fellow (NSF GRFP). His thesis centered on the discovery, development, and mechanistic understanding of small molecules that mimic protein function to restore physiology to organisms missing iron transport proteins, thereby acting as prostheses on the molecular scale. As an NRSA postdoctoral fellow and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Trainee in Matt Kaeberlein's Lab at the University of Washington, Dr. Grillo elucidated the mechanistic role of protein kinace C in promoting neuroinflammation in mitochondrial disease mice and the influence of iron status on disease progression.

Dr. Grillo's background in biochemistry, chemical biology, and metabolic physiology make him excited to perform interdisciplinary research centered on revealing how mitochondrial dysfunction alters micronutrient metabolism (e.g. metals, oxygen, vitamins, etc.) to elicit neurodegeneration in age-related, genetic, or environmental-induced disease in multiple in vitro and in vivo models.
Headshot of Hairong Guan

Hairong Guan

Professor, Chemistry

822 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-6377

Hairong Guan is an organometallic chemist with research interests in metal hydrides, homogeneous catalysis with first-row transition metals, and catalysis on metal surface. Hairong received his academic training from Peking University (with Prof. Zhenfeng Xi), Columbia University (with Prof. Jack Norton), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (with Prof. Chuck Casey) before joining the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 2007. Currently, Hairong is a Professor of Chemistry. He has served as an Advisory Board Member of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, an Editorial Board Member of Green Synthesis and Catalysis, and has been a recipient of an NSF CAREER award, an Alfred P. Sloan research fellowship, and a Humboldt research fellowship.

For more details, please visit the Guan Research Group webpage:  http://www.guanresearchgroup.com
Headshot of Anna D. Gudmundsdottir

Anna D. Gudmundsdottir

Professor , Chemistry

821 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-3380

Gudmundsdottir's research  is focused on photochemistry, studying reactive intermediates such as triplet nitrenes and biradicals, to determine their reactivity in solution and the solid-state. We use our understanding of photochemistry to develop applications such as sustainble synthesis to form new C-N bonds, photoremovable protecting groups and sunscreens. Currently, we are elucidating the factor that control photodynamic behavior of organic azido crystals, our goal is to make .inflatable devices and explosives that are driven by light. 

More details on her research program can be found at 
https://www.anna-research.com/
 
Headshot of Jianbing Jiang

Jianbing Jiang

Assoc Professor, Chemistry

717 Rieveschl Hall

513-5561952

For more information, please visit www.jianbingjiang.com

Jianbing “Jimmy” Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati since August 2018. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Jiangnan University, China in 2007. He attained his Master’s degree from East China University of Science and Technology in 2010, where he worked with Prof. He Tian on the design and synthesis of a series of polymeric chemosensors for the detection of environmentally hazardous ions (e.g. Hg2+). Then he moved to the US in 2010 to peruse his Ph.D. degree at North Carolina State University (Ph.D. advisor: Jonathan S. Lindsey), and his research was concentrated on the development of synthetic methodologies for the preparation of various property-tunable photosensitizers and incorporation of these chromophores into self-assembled materials for light-harvesting and energy-transfer studies. In 2015, he joined Yale University as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Chemistry and Yale Energy Sciences Institute, working with Professors Gary W. Brudvig and Robert H. Crabtree, where he designed, synthesized and characterized novel inorganic catalysts and organometallic materials for small molecule activation, specifically for water oxidation and proton reduction to value-added products. He was promoted to an Associate Research Scientist in 2017.
 
Headshot of Patrick A Limbach

Patrick A Limbach

Professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar, Chemistry

540 University Hall

513-558-0026

Patrick A. Limbach, Ph.D., is an Ohio Eminent Scholar and professor of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati. He has been serving as the Vice President for Research for the University of Cincinnati since 2016 and is also the current Board President for the University of Cincinnati Research Institute. His research lab has been focused on the identification, quantification, and sequence placement of modified ribonucleosides with an emphasis on characterizing and understanding the modification profiles of transfer RNAs from a variety of organisms. He and his group have developed numerous mass spectrometry-based approaches, tools and reagents for the analysis of modified RNAs. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a lifetime member of Phi Kappa Phi. He received his B.S degree from Centre College (Kentucky), his Ph.D. from Ohio State University training under Professor Alan G. Marshall, and conducted post-doctoral training at the University of Utah in the laboratory of Professor James A. McCloskey.
You can learn more about Dr. Limbach's research program at his group's website - http://bearcatms.uc.edu
Headshot of Wei Liu

Wei Liu

Assoc Professor, Chemistry

431 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-5865

Wei completed his undergraduate studies at Peking University under the supervision of Prof. Gu Yuan. In 2008, he moved to Princeton University for the doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. John T. Groves, focusing on metalloporphyrin-catalyzed C-H halogenation reactions. Wei then joined the Chang lab at Berkeley as a postdoctoral researcher. Before moving to the Department of Chemistry at University of Cincinnati in August 2020 as an assistant professor, he spent three years at Miami’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Headshot of James Mack

James Mack

Professor of Chemistry and Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Chemistry

155B ARTSCI

513-556-9249

James Mack is a Professor of Chemistry. After completing his Bachlor’s degree at Middlebury College in 1995 he went to graduate school at the University of New Hampshire where he conducted his doctoral research under the supervision of Glen P. Miller working in the area of fullerenes. After earning his doctoral degree in 2000, he was a postdoctoral fellow with Lawrence T. Scott developing a bench top synthesis of fullerenes and nanotubes. Since joining the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 2003, Professor Mack has been interested in the development of environmentally benign organic reactions and the synthesis of novel organic materials.
Headshot of Allan R. Pinhas

Allan R. Pinhas

Professor, Chemistry

602 Crosley Tower

513-556-9255

Allan Pinhas is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati. After his BS degree from the University of Rochester, he went to Cornell University where he earned a PhD. It was at Cornell, working under the direction of Prof. Barry Carpenter, that he became interested in experimental organometallic chemistry. In addition, while in graduate school, he studied theoretical chemistry with Prof. Roald Hoffmann. He then went to Yale University as a postdoctoral fellow, working with Prof. Jerry Berson on the photochemistry of molecules in their triplet state. He took a second postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina, working with Prof. Maurice Brookhart on the reactivity of organometallic complexes. Dr. Pinhas joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati in 1982. He is a physical-organic chemist who is interested in the effect metal complexes have on organic molecules, especially organic compounds that contain small rings. In addition, he is interested in new methods for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds.
Headshot of Ashley Elizabeth Ross

Ashley Elizabeth Ross

Assoc Professor, Chemistry

418A Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9314

Ashley Ross is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry. She is a bioanalytical chemist with expertise in electrochemistry, microfluidics, neurochemistry, and ex vivo experimentation. After obtaining her B.S. in Chemistry at Christopher Newport University in 2009, she went on to receive her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Virginia under Dr. Jill Venton in 2014. During her PhD, she focused on developing electrochemical methods to detect rapid adenosine changes in the brain. She worked as a post-doctoral scholar under Dr. Rebecca Pompano at the University of Virginia from 2014 until 2017 developing microfluidic methods to study local stimulation and diffusion within the lymph node. There she was awarded the American Association of Immunologists Careers in Immunology Fellowship for her work focused on developing methods to probe brain-immune interactions. She joined the University of Cincinnati faculty in 2017, with research interests focused on developing methods to probe brain-immune communications, investigating interfacial interactions between neurochemicals and carbon surfaces, and synthesizing new materials for electrochemical detection. Snice 2017, her work has been recognized by an NSF CAREER Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, and the RCSA Microbiome, Neurobiology, and Disease Fellow Awards. In addition, she has been awarded two NIH R01's to study the mechanism of neurochemical signaling in the lymph node and to develop methods to study guanosine signaling during brain ischemia. 

Please visit www.rosslabuc.com for more information
Twitter Handle: @RossLabUC
Headshot of Briana Simms

Briana Simms

Asst Professor, Chemistry

Crosley Tower

513-556-9200

Dr. Briana Simms is a synthetic polymer chemist who specializes in the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel biomaterials with the goal of addressing challenges related to public health. Currently, she is focused on the development of soft biomaterials such as lipid nanoparticles and hydrogels for applications in therapeutic delivery and wound healing, respectively.

She is an alumna of Xavier University of Louisiana (c'o 2012-- B.S. Biochemistry) and the University of Mississippi (c'o 2016-- Ph.D. in Chemistry). She conducted her post-doctoral training/fellowship at Duke University (2021-2023). She joined the UC community as tenure-track faculty in the Department of Chemistry in the Summer of 2023. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Headshot of David B. Smithrud

David B. Smithrud

Associate Professor, Chemistry

603 Crosley Tower

513-556-9254

David Smithrud is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati. He received his BS degree in chemistry at the University of Washington. From there, he attended the University of California, Los Angeles and received his PhD. Under the guidance of Prof. Diederich, he developed synthetic host-guest complexes; with special emphasis on the effect solvents have on complexation. He joined Prof. Benkovic's group at the Pennsylvania State University. As a post-doctoral student and NIH fellow, he further investigated and exploited molecular recognition events through the development of catalytic antibodies. These studies included constructing phage display libraries of M13 and lambda bacteriophages, synthesizing haptens, and performing molecular cloning and kinetic analysis. He joined the Chemistry Department at UC. Our research group uses mimetic chemistry to investigate the intricate interplay that exist between functional groups at protein binding domains in order to determine the underlying forces that give proteins their unique ability to recognize molecules and to develop novel synthetic devices. This research has produced novel binding agents, cell transport agents, and compounds that bind the major groove of DNA.
Headshot of George Stan

George Stan

Professor, Chemistry

1501B Crosley Tower

513-556-3049

George Stan is a physical chemist with research interests in computational biophysical chemistry. He received his undergraduate degree in 1994 at the University of Bucharest, Romania. He obtained his PhD in 1999 at the Pennsylvania State University for work on absorption of gases in carbon nanotubes and wetting of alkali surfaces.

His postdoctoral work in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology at the University of Maryland (2000-2001) and the National Institutes of Health (2002-2006) focused on chaperonin mediated protein folding. His research involves application and development of computational methods within the CHARMM molecular modeling program, as well as bioinformatics methods.

In 2005 he was awarded the Lenfant Biomedical Fellowship at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

He joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 2006.

Headshot of Pietro Strobbia

Pietro Strobbia

Asst Professor, Chemistry

201 Crosley Tower

513-556-5883

The research in the Optical Sensors Group is largely directed towards bridging the gap between current state-of-the-art sensing technologies and the actual requirements for their application in clinical settings or in the field. Our group works on multidisciplinary projects leveraging expertise in optical systems and sensing technologies development, as well as on plasmonics and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). We apply this expertise to current relevant issues in clinical diagnostics and environmental analysis, with a particular focus on the development deployable technologies. Our long-term goal is to benefit the developing and developed world through the dissemination of new cost-effective and practical analytical tools.

Please visit our website for more information.

Pietro Strobbia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry since August 2020. Pietro received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Sapienza University of Rome (2011) and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (2016). Prior to his appointmet at UC, Pietro was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University.
Headshot of Yujie Sun

Yujie Sun

Professor, Chemistry

722 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-0227

Group page: www.yujiesun.org

Yujie Sun (孙宇杰) received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Fudan University in 2005. He then pursued graduate studies in inorganic photochemistry with Prof. Claudia Turro at The Ohio State University and obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2010. Subsequently, he joined the group of Prof. Christopher J. Chang at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a postdoctoral scholar, working on renewable energy catalysis. Yujie started his independent career as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University in 2013, moved to the University of Cincinnati as an Associate Professor in 2018, and was promoted to Professor in 2023. His group is interested in developing and understanding inexpensive materials and complexes for energy catalysis and biomedical applications.
Headshot of Pearl Tsang

Pearl Tsang

Associate Professor, Chemistry

701 Crosley Tower

513-556-2301

Pearl Tsang obtained a BA from Barnard College, followed by a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. After her postdoctoral positions in biological NMR, Dr. Tsang joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at UC. Professor Tsang is one of the several biochemists in this Department and as such her general research interests entail elucidation of structure-function relationships of proteins, nucleic acids and biomolecular complexes. One particular class of proteins studied in the Tsang lab corresponds to the aminoacyl tRNA (transfer RNA) synthetaseses. These are enzymes which are crucial for correct covalent linkage of a given amino acid to its corresponding tRNA molecule; this process is also known as 'charging' of the tRNA and is essential for accurate protein translation. These investigations are conducted in order to enhance our understanding of how these proteins carry out their function since their structural and dynamic properties are relevant to their functions. The research conducted in this lab typically involves the production, purification and characterization of the proteins and peptides studied and this involves use of molecular biology and protein purification techniques. The characterization of these molecules involves biophysical and spectroscopic (primarily solution NMR) techniques.
Headshot of Ryan J White

Ryan J White

Professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar, Unit Head - Chemistry, Chemistry

ARTSCI

513-556-4369

My research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of nanoscience, electrochemistry and the biological interface. The research interests in our group focus on the development of new (bio)analytical methods to probe chemical and biological systems with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions afforded by working at the nanoscale. The scope of this research is quite broad, ranging from studies of fundamental chemical and biological phenomena to the development of applied sensor technologies. As such, students in the group can expect to gain valuable interdisciplinary laboratory experience.
 
Ryan J. White is Professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar in the Department of Chemistry with a complimenrary joint appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has served as Head of Chemistry since Fall 2022. Ryan received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina (2003) and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Utah (2007). He was an NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California Santa Barbara. Ryan started his academic career as an assistant professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry at UMBC in 2011, and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2016. Ryan joined UC in the fall of 2017. Ryan is also the recipient of the Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award from the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry. 
 
Headshot of Peng Zhang

Peng Zhang

Professor of Chemistry & Materials Science, Chemistry

702 Crosley Tower

513-556-9222

Chemistry & Materials Science
Research interests: Photodynamic therapy against bacteria and cancers; plasmonics; sensing; nanomaterials

http://homepages.uc.edu/~zhangph

Educator Faculty

Headshot of Megan Elizabeth Bucks

Megan Elizabeth Bucks

Asst Professor - Educator, Chemistry

529A Rieveschl Hall

(513) 556-0256

Assistant Professor - Educator, A&S Chemistry

Courses taught:
Spring 2024: CHEM 1041 General Chemistry II
Fall 2023: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Fall 2022: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Spring 2022: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Fall 2021: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Spring 2021: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Fall 2020: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Spring 2020: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Fall 2019: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Spring 2019: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Fall 2018: CHEM 1040 General Chemistry I
Headshot of Lukasz Szatkowski

Lukasz Szatkowski

Asst Professor - Educator, Chemistry

404D Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9230

Headshot of Anne Marie Vonderheide

Anne Marie Vonderheide

Professor - Educator and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Chemistry

508 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9331

Professor -- Educator and Undergraduate Director
Headshot of Daniel Waddell

Daniel Waddell

Associate Professor Educator, Chemistry

509 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-5840

Assistant Professor of Chemistry - Educator

Courses taught
Fall 2014: CHEM 2041, CHEM 1041
Spring 2015: CHEM 2041, CHEM 1040, CHEM 2031L
Summer 2015: CHEM 1041
Fall 2015: CHEM 1040, CHEM 2041
Spring 2016: CHEM 1041
Fall 2016: CHEM 1040
Spring 2017: CHEM 1041
Fall 2017: CHEM 1040
Spring 2018: CHEM 1041

Visiting Faculty

Headshot of Roger William Kugel

Roger William Kugel

Dr., Chemistry

Roger Kugel received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Stanford University under Dr. Henry Taube.  He did post-doctoral research at Argonne National Laboratory studying laser isotope separation.  He worked at Nalco Chemical Company in Chicago in their Fuel Treatment Group for three years before joining the faculty at Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minnesota, where he taught General and Physical Chemistry for 33 years.  During his time at Saint Mary's, Dr. Kugel also held a W.A.E.research position at the US Bureau of Mines working on advanced mining and mineral handling techniques.  He is currently visiting Scholar and Adjunct Professor at University of Cincinnati.  His research interests are in the areas of Chemical Education and Matrix Isolation Spectroscopy.  He also currently serves as the Chief Reader in the AP Chemistry Program.
Headshot of Isiah M Warner

Isiah M Warner

Visiting Scholar, Chemistry

Crosley Tower

513-556-9200

Adjunct Faculty

Headshot of Richard Duffy Farris

Richard Duffy Farris

Instructor - Adj, Chemistry

404C Rieveschl Hall

513-305-6408

Headshot of Diane Schmidt

Diane Schmidt

Adjunct Research Professor, Chemistry

604 Crosley Tower

513-556-5512

Headshot of Kenneth Robert Wehmeyer

Kenneth Robert Wehmeyer

Visiting Scholar, Chemistry

Crosley Tower

513-556-9200

Emeriti Faculty

Headshot of Bruce S. Ault

Bruce S. Ault

Distinguished Teaching Professor, Chemistry

401 Crosley Tower

513-556-9238

Bruce Ault received his BS degree in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1970 and his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1973, under the supervision of Professor George Pimentel. After a postdoctoral instructorship at the University of Virginia, working with Professor Lester Andrews, he joined the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati in 1976 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1980 and professor in 1984. He served the department as assistant head from 1982-87 and as head from 1987 to 1997. His area of specialization is physical chemistry, with applications in inorganic and organic chemistry. He has worked actively in the field of matrix isolation since graduate school, using cryogenic temperatures to stabilize highly reactive chemical intermediates. These intermediates are subsequently characterized by high-resolution infrared spectroscopy, and quantum chemical calculations. He has won several awards for his activities, including “Cincinnati Chemist of the Year” from the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society, the Distinguished Research Awards from the Sigma Xi Society (Cincinnati Chapter) and the George Barbour award from the University of Cincinnati.  He was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Since 1979, the National Science Foundation has continuously funded nearly all his work. In addition to the research described above, Dr. Ault served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Chemistry, helping to develop new curriculum and degree programs as well as serving as head advisor to undergraduate chemistry majors. He actively taught physical chemistry courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as freshman chemistry when time permits. He was also the lead faculty member directing the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program funded by the NSF in the Department.  He retired in 2016 and is now Professor Emeritus.
Headshot of Albert M Bobst

Albert M Bobst

Professor, Chemistry

Dr. Albert M. Bobst is a Professor of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati. After receiving his PhD at the University of Zurich in 1965, where he synthesized, and characterized Tetrahydropterins by nuclear magnetic resonance, he studied for one year Quantum Biochemistry as a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Pullman at the Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique in Paris, France. Subsequently he was awarded a Swiss National Science Fellowship to study Photosynthesis and Nucleic Acid Chemistry under the guidance of Professors Calvin and Tinoco, at Berkeley, CA. In 1968/69 he worked at Princeton University as a Research Associate before joining the Chemistry faculty as an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati in 1969, where he was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 1978. In 1975, he was appointed Adjunct Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry at UC’s College of Medicine, and promoted to Adjunct Professor in 1982. He was a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health in 1975/76, 1983/84, and at the ISREC in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1979. In 2007/08 he was a visiting scholar at OSU.

His research interest is focused on the application of electron spin resonance (ESR) to: 1) Study the dynamics of nucleic acids and nucleic acid – protein complexes, and 2) Detect genes by PCR/ESR. In 2006 he was awarded US Patent 7,126,665 for “Detection of Nucleic Acid Target Sequences by ESR.” Presently, he has ongoing collaborations to design Micro – ESR sensors for magnetic resonance – based gene detection in personalized medicine.
Headshot of William R Heineman

William R Heineman

Distinguished Research Professor, Chemistry

120 Crosley Tower

513-556-9210

Currently not accepting any graduate students

William R. Heineman received a BS in Chemistry from Texas Tech University in 1964 and a PhD in Chemistry in 1968 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the direction of Professor Royce Murray. He was a Research Chemist at Hercules Research Center for two years before becoming a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Professor Ted Kuwana in 1970 at Case Western Reserve University and then at The Ohio State University. He joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 1972 where he is now Distinguished Research Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry.

Professor Heineman’s research interests include spectroelectrochemistry, chemical sensors, analytical chemistry of radiopharmaceuticals, polymer modified electrodes, electrochemical immunoassay, and microfluidic systems for chemical analysis. He has published over 400 research papers and patents and has presented over 500 lectures at conferences, universities, and government/industrial laboratories. He is coauthor of the laboratory manual Chemical Experiments for Instrumental Methods, the instrumental analysis textbook Chemical Instrumentation: A Systematic Approach; and coeditor of the textbook Laboratory Techniques in Electroanalytical Chemistry.

Professor Heineman has received numerous awards including Sigma Xi Research Recognition Award, Cincinnati Chemist of the Year,Japanese Government Research Award for Foreign Scientists, George Rieveschl, Jr. Award for Distinguished Scientific Research, Humboldt Prize from Germany,  Charles N. Reilley Award in Electroanalytical Chemistry from the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry, Chemical Sensors Award from the International Meeting on Chemical Sensors, Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, Torbern Bergman Medal 1999 from the Analytical Section of the Swedish Chemical Society,  Fields of Analytical Chemistry award  by the Eastern Analytical Association, and the Outstanding Achievement in Sensors Award from the Electrochemical Society .  nd  He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2001 and chosen for the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society in 2009.

Heineman has served on numerous advisory boards for journals including Analytical Chemistry, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Analytica Chimica Acta, and Electroanalysis. He was a co-founder and the first President of the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry and was a member of the Board of Directors. Heineman has been active in the American Chemical Society. In the Cincinnati Section he served as Cintacs Editor, Secretary, Chair, Trustee, and Councilor. In the Division of Analytical Chemistry he served as Treasurer, Councilor, and Chair.
Headshot of William B Jensen

William B Jensen

Professor, Chemistry

Headshot of Roger S Macomber

Roger S Macomber

Emeritus Faculty, Chemistry

Headshot of Carl J Seliskar

Carl J Seliskar

Emeritus Faculty, Chemistry

Carl Seliskar is Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Chemical Sensors Group at the University of Cincinnati. He is a physical chemist with research interests in molecular spectroscopy, applied optical spectroscopy and optical chemical sensors. His PhD work with Professor Ludwig Brand concentrated on making and evaluating the spectroscopic properties of fluorescent molecular probes for biomolecules. As a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow he continued his studies at Louisiana State University (with Sean P. McGlynn) and at University of Western Ontario (with John C. D. Brand) working on the molecular orbital calculations of spectroscopic properties of small organic molecules and the high resolution spectra of small molecules. He joined the Chemistry Department of the University of Cincinnati in the autumn of 1972.
Headshot of Estel D Sprague

Estel D Sprague

Professor, Chemistry

Estel Sprague received a BA in chemistry from Asbury College in 1966, followed by a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1971. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institut fuer Kohlenforschung, Abteilung Strahlenchemie, in Germany from 1971-1973 and at the University of Wisconsin in Madison from 1973-1974. He joined the University of Cincinnati chemistry faculty in 1974, and is now Professor of Chemistry. He served the department as assistant head from 1988-1997.

Staff

Headshot of John T. Baker

John T. Baker

Technical Assistant, Management Professional II, Chemistry

410 Crosley Tower

513-556-9321

Headshot of Kimberly R. Carey

Kimberly R. Carey

Program Director, Chemistry

121 Crosley Tower

513-556-0293

Headshot of Alexander Ian Greenwood

Alexander Ian Greenwood

Research Associate, Chemistry

123C Crosley Tower

513-556-9211

Headshot of Jack Henry Hinders

Jack Henry Hinders

Mgr College Laboratory, Chemistry

514 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9374

Headshot of Necati Kaval

Necati Kaval

Research Professional, Chemistry

102 Crosley Tower

513-556-9201

Headshot of Jeanette Krause

Jeanette Krause

Research Professional, Chemistry

306 Crosley Tower

513-556-9226

Headshot of Deborah Lieberman

Deborah Lieberman

Academic Director, Associate Professor-Adjunct, Chemistry

511 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-2703

run the undergraduate Organic Chemistyr Labs teach the evening sections of Organic Chemistry Lecture and Lab • Work with the PPAC (Pre-Professional Advising Center)
• Run Organic portion of the UC MCAT Review
• Member of the Connections and Cincinnatus selection committees AND give my best effort at getting students through organic chemistry
Headshot of Stephen F. Macha

Stephen F. Macha

Research Professional, Chemistry

412A Rieveschl Hall

513-556-1575

Headshot of Amanda N Newton

Amanda N Newton

Financial Administrator 1, Chemistry

404B Crosley Tower

513-556-1903

Headshot of Peter A Padolik

Peter A Padolik

Research Professional, Chemistry

510 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9315

Headshot of Larry Sallans

Larry Sallans

Research Professional, Chemistry

412 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-1575

Headshot of Sharon Ann Stith

Sharon Ann Stith

Financial Administrator 2, Chemistry

400 Crosley Tower

513-556-9303

Headshot of Ellen Marie Tabeling

Ellen Marie Tabeling

Principal Research Asst, Chemistry

429F Rieveschl Hall

513-556-0920

Headshot of Robert T Voorhees

Robert T Voorhees

Research Professional, Chemistry

416 Rieveschl Hall

513-556-9297