Faculty Focus
Faculty Focus
Highlights of honors our faculty have earned:
- University of Illinois Scholar:
- Keenan Dungey (2005)
- Apple Distinguished Educator
- Layne Morsch (2015)
- University Spencer Faculty Service Award
- Harshavardhan Bapat (2016)
- College Faculty Excellence Awards
- Scholarship- Steven Johnson (2016)
- Service- Keenan Dungey (2016)
- Dr. Keenan Dungey had an article published (with Dr. Michael Lemke from Biology) in Hydrobiologia titled Diversity and succession of pelagic microorganism communities in a newly restored Illinois River floodplain lake (August 2017)
- Dr. Layne Morsch made 3 presentations (one including UIS undergraduate student Tonda Chasteen) on Interinstitutional Chemistry Communication at the 253rd American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting, San Francisco, CA (April 2017).
- Dr. Layne Morsch had a peer reviewed chapter titled “Flipped Teaching in Organic Chemistry Using iPad Devices” published in the book The Flipped Classroom Volume 1: Background and Challenges (Nov 2016).
- Dr. Keenan Dungey along with Dr. Michael Lemke (Biology) and Jonathan GoldbergBelle (International Programs) received a $25,000 Innovation Fund grant from Coca-Cola to help students compare river ecosystems in Brazil and Illinois. Read more about it in UIS News (Nov 2016).
Chemistry faculty receive CLAS Awards
The UIS College of Liberal Arts and Sciences announced the 2016 recipients of the three faculty excellence awards on Friday October 21, 2016 with two professors from the Chemistry Department chosen for the awards. Dr. Keenan Dungey received the CLAS Faculty Excellence Award for Service and Dr. Stephen Johnson received the CLAS Faculty Excellence Award for Scholarship. Congratulations to both professors on their achievements and recognition.
- Dr. Layne Morsch was invited to give a talk titled “Flipping Organic! Active learning in organic chemistry through iPads, iTunes U and ChemWiki” at the 2016 Biennial Conference in Chemical Education in a symposium on Active learning in organic chemistry (Aug 2016).
- Dr. Layne Morsch presented a poster titled “Lights, Camera, Science Action” at the 2016 ISTE(International Society for Technology in Education) along with colleagues and fellow Apple Distinguished Educators Rhoda Hahn and Maggie Mabery. A website was created to share the materials with other instructors (June 2016).
- Dr. Harshavardhan Bapat leads the team that brings kids to the UIS campus for Camp Invention (June 20-24, 2016) for a second year. They are encouraged to explore STEM fields with fun and creativity.
- Read a recent (2016) article published in Peptides by Dr. Stephen Johnson.
A reexamination of poneratoxin from the venom of the bullet ant Paraponera clavata - Dr. Keenan Dungey (along with Dr. Michael Lemke from Biology) have written a chapter titled “Mike and Keenan’s Excellent Emiquon Adventure” in the book Chemistry for the Curious: Why Study Chemistry. published in 2016 from The Curious Academic Publishing Co., Canberra (AU).
Dr. Layne Morsch selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator
Dr. Layne Morsch, associate professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Springfield has been selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator Class of 2015. He was selected for this honor based on his incorporation of technology into his organic chemistry courses and in particular his use of iPads to engage students in the classroom as well as outside of class meetings.
Dr. Keenan Dungey named University Scholar for 2005
Keenan Dungey, assistant professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Springfield, has been named University Scholar for 2005-2006. He is one of 13 faculty members, and the only one from UIS, chosen for this award honoring and rewarding outstanding teachers and scholars at the three U of I campuses.
Dungey’s teaching and research interests focus on solid state chemistry for materials applications. Materials nominating him for the award noted that he “is a devoted teacher-scholar who integrates undergraduate research in his teaching and promotes research opportunities for students in the Springfield area.” Since joining the UIS faculty in the 2000 fall semester, Dungey has received the Cottrell College Science Award presented by the Research Corporation as well as a major grant from the National Science Foundation. The Cottrell award recognizes scientific originality, significance, feasibility, sustainability, and involvement of undergraduate students in the project. The NSF grant funded the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for undergraduate chemistry courses.
Dungey’s other activities include designing and teaching a UIS course exploring the complex relationship and tension between science and religion, helping organize a symposium on Nanotechnology in Chemical Education at the 2004 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, publishing several articles in professional journals, and making numerous presentations at national conferences. He serves as a mentor for local high school students on science fair projects and is the faculty adviser for the Christian Student Fellowship at UIS.