Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry

Barbara Murray (PhD, University of Illinois - CU) has spent the last 35 years teaching organic chemistry at liberal arts universities. Most recently she was the John Stauffer Director of the Center for Science and Mathematics and Professor of chemistry at the University of Redlands for twenty seven years. In 2020, she became an emeritus professor. Barbara has been a strong believer in the value of a liberal arts education, having graduate degrees in three different subjects. She became active in Project Kaleidoscope, now the center for undergraduate STEM education in the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in the late 1990s when the book How People Learn by the National Research Council was published. PKAL was created to see if new approaches to transforming undergraduate learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) make a difference. In 2010, she won the University of Redlands Faculty Award for Innovative Teaching. In the early 2000s Barbara Murray created a symposium for the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) titled "Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry" as an outlet for new ideas in teaching organic chemistry. It was the first symposium to concentrate on organic chemistry teaching and has been a successful source of innovative ideas ever since. In 2016, Murray and Kreke began their collaboration at BCCE. Patricia J. Kreke (PhD, University of Tennessee, Knoxville) has spent the past 26 years teaching organic chemistry at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, MD. In addition to teaching organic chemistry, she mentors undergraduate student research in the areas of surfactant chemistry and the design of undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory experiments. Additionally, she serves as the Director of Health Professions Advising. Dr. Kreke has assisted in the development of several ACS organic chemistry exams for the ACS Exams Institute and was a co-author of the 2nd edition of the ACS Official Guide for Preparing for Your ACS Examination in Organic Chemistry. In 2020, she received a Theodore Ashford Fellowship with the ACS Exams Institute. In 2018, she was the recipient of the John B. Richards Award for Excellence in Teaching at MSMU. She serves on regional and national Health Professions Advising Committees and MSMU committees. Patricia has served as Department Chair for ten years and has held leadership roles in many committees and organizations. She has published and presented at conferences related to Health Professions Advising and Chemical Education. In 2016, she became a co-organizer with Barbara Murray in the BCCE symposium titled "Engaging Students in Organic Chemistry" created by Murray in the early 2000s.