Degrees

 

2000

Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, UCLA

Dissertation Title: Theoretical Bioorganic Chemistry of Antibody Catalysis

1995

A.B. Chemistry, Magna Cum Laude, Harvard University

 

Experience

 

2011-present

Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis

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2008-2011

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis

2003-2008

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis

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2005-present

Departmental advisor for organic chemistry graduate students, member Graduate Affairs Committee

2018-present

Vice Chair (Academic Affairs), Department of Chemistry, UC Davis

2022-2024

VIce Chair then Chair, Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs (CCGA), UC Academic Senate

2020-2022

Chair, Graduate Council, UC Davis

2017-2019

Associate Editor, ACS Omega

2008-2016

Chair, R. Bryan Miller Symposium Organizing Committee

2000-2003

Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, with Roald Hoffmann

1998-2000

Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA, with Ken Houk

1997-2000

Teaching Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

1998-1999

Fellow, Collegium of University Teaching Fellows, UCLA

1998

Instructor, Mathematics and Science Scholars Program (MS2) Pre-Instruction in Science and Mathematics (PRISM), UCLA

1996-1998

Fellow, NIH Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program, UCLA

1995-1996

Teaching Assistant, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

1995

Teaching Assistant, Harvard University Summer School

1994-1995

Research Assistant, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, with James Hogle

 

Fellowships, Awards, Honors

 

2023

Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, American Chemical Society

2022

ADVANCE Scholar Award (UCD) for "advancing diverse perspectives and gender equity in STEMM through teaching, research and service"

2021

Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Award (UCD)

2017

Fellow, American Chemical Society (ACSF)

2017

Royal Society of Chemistry's Inclusion & Diversity Prize

2016

Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

2016

Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)

2016

Plenary Speaker, 27th Symposium on Physical Organic Chemistry (2016, Hiroshima, Japan)

2016

Bertram Dillon Steele Lectureship, University of Queensland

2016

Academic Senate Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award, UC Davis

2014

Andrew Streitwieser Lectureship, UC Berkeley

2014

Soaring to New Heights Diversity and Principles of Community Faculty Diversity Award, UC Davis

2012

Natural Product Reports Lectureship

2011

National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow

2011

Lawrence J. Schaad Lectureship in Theoretical Chemistry, Vanderbilt University

2011

Academic Senate Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, UC Davis

2010

National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow

2007

Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry Award for Early Excellence in the Field of Physical Organic Chemistry

2005

National Science Foundation CAREER Award

2000

Winstein Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research in Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

2000

Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, Academic Senate Committee on Teaching, UCLA

2000

First Prize for Graduate Students, 52nd Annual Robert B. and Blanche Campbell Student Book Collection Competition, UCLA Library

1999

Jacobs Award for Outstanding Research, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

1999

Departmental Prize for Distinguished Teaching in Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

1995-1999

University Fellowship, UCLA

1996-1998

Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program Fellowship, NIH

1996

Departmental Award for Distinguished Teaching in Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

1991-1995

Harvard National Scholarship

1991-1995

National Science Scholarship, United States Department of Education

1993-1994

Harvard College Scholarship

1992-1993

Monroe C. Gutman National Scholarship, Harvard University

 

Selected Professional Activities

2021-present

Editorial College (Chemistry) Fellow, SciPost

2021-present

Associate Member, American Chemical Society Committee on Chemists with Disabilities

2021-present

Advisory Board, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry

2020-present

Editorial Advisory Board, Chemistry Methods.

2019-present

International Advisory Board, Russian Chemical Bulletin (English version of Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya

2017-present

Associate Editorial Board, Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry

2012-present

Editorial Board, Computational Chemistry Highlights

2011-present

Co-organizer for “Accelerating Reaction Discovery - A TSRC Collaborative” conference

2012-2023

Board of Directors, Accessible Science

2015-2020

Editorial Board, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry

2020

Chair, Sacramento Local Section of the American Chemical Society

2019

Guest co-editor (with Stephanie Hare) of themed issue of Beil. J. Org. Chem. on "Reactive Intermediates - Carbocations"

2018

Editor, Applied Theoretical Organic Chemistry

2018-2019

Guest co-editor (with John Wood) of Tetrahedron "Symposium-in-Print" on "Computational Chemistry in Organic Synthesis"

2016-2017

Guest co-editor (with Mike Gagne and Rongjie Chein) of themed issue of Org. Biomol. Chem. on "Polycylizations in Synthesis and Biosynthesis"

2017

Chair, Sacramento Local Section of the American Chemical Society

2016

Guest editor of Acc. Chem. Res. 2016, 49, special issue on "Computational Catalysis for Organic Synthesis"

2010

Discussion leader at “Isotopes in Biology and Chemistry” Gordon Research Conference

2003-2005

Consultant, Pfizer Inc., La Jolla, California

2003-2004

Co-editor (with Jeehiun Lee) of Topics in Current Chemistry 2004, 238: "Orotidine Monophosphate Decarboxylase: A Mechanistic Dialogue"

 

Memberships

American Chemical Society (ACS), Fellow since 2017; Member since 1996; ORGN, COMP, HIST divisions

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fellow since 2016; Member 1997-2003 & since 2012

World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC), Life Member since 2010

American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP), Member since 2011

Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow (FRSC) since 2016

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), Member since 2017

International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry (ISHC), Member since 2018

Sigma Xi, Full Member since 2019

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Quimica Orgánica (SAIQO), Honorary Member since 2023

Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics (IPN), Affiliate Member since 2023