After graduating from Saginaw Valley State University with a BS degree in Chemistry, I went on to earn a Ph.D. at Michigan State University in Organic Chemistry. I worked for Dr. John Frost and specialized in biocatalysis. In 2001, I started at the University of Michigan-Flint as their organic chemist. I have since gone on to develop and teach a variety of upper-division courses including our junior and senior seminar courses. Over the years, I have received 30 recognition awards directly from my students (UM-Flint’s Golden Apple Teaching Award) and four different faculty awards from the University. In 2008, I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. While I have been involved in several areas of research over the years, my main project involves a modified Leuckert reaction in sub-critical water to develop a greener synthesis of tertiary amines.
While at UM-Flint, I restarted our Chemistry Club as a Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society and continue to serve as a faculty advisor. Since 2002, we have been continuously recognized by the ACS with a Chapter Award and have received their top award of Outstanding 10 times and recognized as a Green Chapter three times. I have served as Department Chair for six years and was the founding faculty chair for the UM-Flint Women’s Commission. Working with Dr. Nick Kingsley, a fellow faculty member, UM-Flint became the 38th to sign the Green Chemistry Commitment. This inspired us to move forward with our dream of developing a new program in green chemistry. In 2018, UM-Flint started the first BS in Green Chemistry in the US. Starting in 2021, I was selected for the Green Chemistry Module development team for organic chemistry. This project is sponsored by the ACS Green Chemistry Institute.