Chemistry
Faculty Bios & Courses
“With One Course, we are free to choose lab activities for their
educational value rather than for their ability to fit within a more
artificial time constraint. It is hard to overstate the importance of
this fact, and it is a key advantage in teaching science.”
Craig Teague, Associate Professor of Chemistry
BENEFITS OF ONE COURSE AT A TIME
T
600 FIRST STREET SW | MOUNT VERNON, IOWA 52314 | CORNELLCOLLEGE.EDU
he department of chemistry
at Cornell College has been
certified by the American
Chemical Society for the
professional training of chemists at
the undergraduate level, which is
uncommon for a small college. In
addition to a traditional major in
chemistry, we also offer an ACS certified
major, and we join with the biology
department to support a biochemistry
and molecular biology major.
We emphasize a broad view of chemistry
and its relationship to other disciplines.
In particular, many of our courses
provide foundational knowledge and
laboratory skills for the biochemistry
and molecular biology major or for
health-related research projects. We
also help our students develop critical
thinking skills they can use to seek an
accurate understanding of scientific
issues that we face as a society.
We strongly encourage our students to
engage in research projects at Cornell
or other institutions to develop a full
set of practical skills and become active
scientists. On campus, students have
the opportunity to work in small groups
with faculty mentors during summer
research. Our faculty are all professional
scientists with meaningful and varied
research interests, and we treat students
as full partners in the process, giving
them an experience much like that of a
graduate school research lab.
Cornell’s small class sizes and One
Course At A Time curriculum allow
our classes to become tight learning
communities. For 18 days, you become
part of a group learning experience,
with significant support from your
professors and collaboration with your
fellow students.
LABS
One Course At A Time allows us to
dedicate a lab to each course, and we’re
never rushed to finish experiments in
a narrow window between setup and
cleanup—the lab is ours all day, every
day. We also customize our lab time for
each course.
For example, in some of the introductory
chemistry courses we typically have
lecture in the morning with lab two
afternoons a week. Other courses may
be taught in more of a workshop format,
where we will have a bit of lecture and
then immediately go to the lab to get
some practical experience with the topic.
Students in organic lab enjoy a full block
immersion in the lab.
GENERAL
The schedule allows us to tailor our
class time for group activities or class
discussions that don’t need to be cut
short for other classes. In addition, other
difficult courses such as calculus or
physics never interfere with chemistry,
and chemistry majors get to immerse
themselves equally in all their nonmajor courses, gaining the full benefit
of the liberal arts experience. Students
never have to worry about multiple
exams in one day, and we have the
flexibility to give untimed exams to
cont. >
Jeff Cardon
Professor of Biology and
Chemistry
Teaches Organic Chemistry
I & II, Biological Chemistry,
and Biochemistry. He and
his students research motility
and biofilm formation in
Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
an opportunistic pathogen
important in cystic fibrosis and
the colonization of medical
devices. Recent research
centers on finding mutants
in which motility regulation is
defective and identifying the
genes responsible. Ph.D.,
UCLA; B.S., University of Utah
Charley Liberko
Professor of Chemistry
Teaches courses in organic
chemistry, Chemical Principles
I & II, and non-majors courses
such as Chemistry in the
Natural World and Chemistry of
Artists’ Materials. His research
with students is concerned
primarily with organic dyes
and the relationship between
structure and optical properties.
Ph.D., University of Minnesota;
B.A., College of St. Thomas
Brian
Nowak-Thompson
Associate Professor of
Biology and Chemistry
Teaches introductory classes
in chemistry and biology with
an emphasis in Biochemistry.
Students in his lab study
the production of bacterial
metabolites that inhibit plant
pathogens. The bacteria
producing these metabolites
are sometimes used in place
of agricultural pesticides to
manage plant disease. Ph.D.
and M.S., Oregon State
University; B.S., Northland
College
Cindy Strong
Professor of Chemistry
Teaches courses in analytical
chemistry, Advanced Inorganic
Chemistry, and Chemical
Principles I & II. She and her
students study the protein
superoxide dismutase, a
copper- and zinc-containing
enzyme that has been
implicated in one form of the
disease amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s
disease). They are producing
mutant forms of the human
enzyme and studying their
metal-binding properties. Ph.D.,
California Institute of Technology;
B.A., Whitman College
cornellcollege.edu
/academics
test real knowledge rather than the ability to
regurgitate information.
CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS
As the culmination of the degree program, each
chemistry major completes a portfolio of work,
consisting of four of the five items below:
n
A laboratory report from an advanced
chemistry course.
n
A report from an independent laboratory
research experience.
n
A detailed proposal for carrying out original
Ph.D., chemistry, Northwestern University,
Evanston, Illinois (Class of 2013)
Ph.D., chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Classes
of 2012 and 2009)
Ph.D., chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City,
Iowa (Class of 2010)
Postdoctoral fellow at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
(Class of 2006)
Ph.D., chemistry, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, California (Class of 2005)
chemical research.
n
A literature review/critique on a current topic
in chemistry.
n
A video of the student’s oral presentation from
an advanced chemistry course or research
experience, with written commentary.
Unlike many programs, Cornell chemistry majors
have the opportunity to work with our most
sophisticated lab equipment beginning their
sophomore year. This practice with top-of-theline tools provides valuable experience for future
endeavors and gives students an advantage when
applying for graduate schools or jobs.
OFF-CAMPUS SUMMER RESEARCH
Students have recently completed research
experiences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
Rutgers University, the University of Oregon, Iowa
State University, University of Nebraska, Baylor
University, Los Alamos National Laboratory,
the University of Pittsburgh, the University of
Arizona, the University of Minnesota, Missouri
State University, and the University of Illinois.
INTERNSHIPS/FELLOWSHIPS
Students have recently completed internships or
fellowships at Integrated DNA Technologies in
Coralville, Iowa; Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa; State Hygienic Laboratory in Coralville,
Iowa; with the Chief Medical Examiner of New
York City; and at AbbVie in Lake County, Illinois.
ALUMNI CAREERS
Oenologist, Columbia Crest Winery, Paterson,
Washington (Class of 2014)
Research technologist in biophysics, Northwestern
University, Evanston, Illinois (Class of 2014)
Jai Shanata
Assistant Professor of
Chemistry
Teaches courses in Organic
Chemistry, Chemical Principles
I and II, and an advanced
topics course in pharmacology
and chemical biology. He
and his students study how
components of human diet,
including cholesterol, fatty
acids, and drugs, impact ion
channel function, with the
long-term goal of predicting
and controlling drug side
effects and off-target effects.
Their interdisciplinary research
applies physics and chemistry
to a biological model system
by performing single-molecule
electrophysiology in planar
lipid bilayers. Ph.D., California
Institute of Technology; B.A.,
Cornell College
Research technologist, Medical College of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Class of 2013)
Craig Teague
Associate Professor of
Chemistry
Quality control scientist, Zoetis, Charles City, Iowa
(Class of 2013)
Teaches courses in physical
chemistry, Chemical Principles
I & II, and other courses. He
and his students study how
polyoxometalates interact
with environmentally relevant
surfaces such as silica and
alumina. The long-term
goal of this work relates to
environmental remediation
of heavy metals. Professor
Teague is also interested in the
synthesis and characterization
of nanomaterials, both
with and without using
polyoxometalates as stabilizing
agents. Newer student/faculty
research projects relate to
computational chemistry.
Ph.D., University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign; B.S.,
Missouri State University
Biocatalyst technician, Gevo, Centennial, Colorado
(Class of 2011)
Applications specialist, Genecor, Cedar Rapids,
Iowa (Class of 2010)
Medical laboratory scientist, Mayo Clinic,
Rochester, Minnesota (Class of 2009)
Forensic scientist and chemist, Nebraska State
Patrol Crime Laboratory, Lincoln, Nebraska
(Class of 2009)
Principal chemist, Ecolab, Ames, Iowa
(Class of 2007)
Senior program analyst, United States Strategic
Command, Offutt AFB, Nebraska (Class of 2006)
Assistant professor of chemistry, Cornell College,
Mount Vernon, Iowa (Class of 2005)
Addison Ault
Professor Emeritus of
Chemistry
Director of global insights, innovation, and
strategy, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh
(Class of 1993)
Teaches courses in organic
chemistry. He joined the
Cornell College faculty in 1962
and now teaches part-time.
Ph.D., Harvard University;
B.A., Amherst College
AFTER CORNELL
Engineering manager, Intel Corporation/Portland
Tech. Dev. Gr., Hillsboro, Oregon (Class of 1993)
About 60 percent of chemistry majors will go on
to Ph.D. programs, while other graduates find
employment in a range of fields.
Owner and neurosurgeon, Wyoming Spine and
Neurosurgery Associates, Cheyenne, Wyoming
(Class of 1988)
GRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED
Global application technology leader, Dow
Chemical, Freeport, Texas (Class of 1986)
Ph.D., pharmacy, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis (Class of 2013)
2014-2015