| Expert Speaker | |
 | Linda H. Doerrer (Boston University) Linda is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Boston University. She completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at Cornell University, working in the laboratories of Klaus Theopold and Frank DiSalvo. Her Ph.D. thesis work was done at MIT with Stephen Lippard, after which came postdoctoral studies with Malcolm Green at the University of Oxford, funded by first by an NSF-NATO post-doctoral fellowship and then as Junior Research Fellow of St. John’s College. She served on the faculty at Barnard College from 1999 to 2006. Since that time she has been at Boston University, where she is currently an Associate Professor in Chemistry and in the Division of Materials Science and Engineering. Doerrer group research has two main areas of exploration. The oldest area is that of metal complexes with perfluorinated alkoxide and aryloxide ligands which are investigated for their atomic and electronic structure, and stoichiometric or potential catalytic oxidation reactivity. A second area is the design and assembly of heterobimetallic lantern complexes as building blocks for quasi 1D structures which are of interest for their anisotropic electronic and magnetic properties. She has been recognized with various awards, including an NSF CAREER Award, a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and a Fulbright Scholar Award. She is currently serving as an Associate Director of the Kilachand Honors College at Boston University. Her favorite symmetry label is a1g, and she relaxes by jogging and reading historical biographies. |
| Workshop Organizers | |
 | Anthony Fernandez (Merrimack College) Anthony is currently an associate professor at Merrimack College, where he has been since 2000. He has been a VIPEr member for 10 years and he currently serves as a site administrator and the LO Review Coordinator. As the only inorganic chemist in his department, Anthony is responsible for teaching all of the inorganic courses the department has to offer (Inorganic Chemistry, Bioinorganic Chemistry, and Organometallic Chemistry). He also teaches in the general chemistry sequence and organic chemistry labs on a regular basis.
Anthony’s research focus is in organometallic and coordination chemistry and he is currently investigating the C-N oxidative addition reactions of [PN(Me)P]Rh-X complex that occur in both solution and the solid state. Recently, he has been working in support of the Mobile Merrimack initiative to use mobile technology to enhance the student experience and improve engagement in the classroom.
When out of the office/lab, Anthony is kept very busy by his two sons, leaving him no time to have any other hobbies. |
 | Betsy Jamieson (Smith College) Betsy is a professor at Smith College in Northampton, MA where she is part of the chemistry department and biochemistry program. Her research efforts focus on examining the thermodynamic and structural consequences of forming the spiroiminodihydantoin lesion in DNA duplexes. Betsy did her graduate work at M.I.T. under the direction of Steve Lippard and a postdoc at Boston University with Tom Tullius before joining the Smith faculty in 2001. She has been a member of the IONiC leadership council since 2008. She teaches courses in general chemistry, inorganic chemistry and biochemistry and is currently the Director of Smith’s Center for Aqueous Biogeochemical Research.
When not at work, Betsy spends much of her time shuttling her teenage children around to their various activities, and she is also learning how to play guitar. |
| Special Guest | |
 | Chip Nataro (Lafayette College) Chip Nataro has been at Lafayette since 1999 and has worked with 59 research students. He and his students perform research in organometallic chemistry with a particular fondness for bis(phosphino)ferrocene ligands. The group studies the electrochemistry, catalytic activity and coordination modes of these ligands. Nataro earned his PhD at Iowa State where he studied the protonation of M-M bonds. He went to the University of Vermont for his post doc where he split time learning about inorganic polymers and electrochemistry. Nataro teaches inorganic and general chemistry at Lafayette. He is a member of the leadership council of IONiC VIPEr, has participated in writing inorganic exams for the ACS exams institute and is a preceptor recipient of the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award for Undergraduate Research in 2013. He has also taught a first year seminar course on baseball and coaches the club baseball team at Lafayette. |