| Kerry Karukstis
is a professor of chemistry at Harvey Mudd College. She received
both her B.S. degree in Chemistry (1977) and her Ph.C. in Physical
Chemistry (1981) from Duke University. Her postdoctoral work with
Ken Sauer in the Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics at the University of
California - Berkeley was supported by a National Institutes of Health
National Research Service Award. She joined the faculty at Harvey
Mudd College in 1984 and regularly teaches courses in general chemistry,
physical chemistry, and biophysical chemistry. Her current research
interests focus on using spectroscopic techniques (absorbance,
flourescence, circular dichroism) to characterize the structure and
physical properties of surfactant assemblies (micelles, reverse micelles,
vesicles, liposomes) and host-guest systems (cyclodextrins, dendrimers).
She has conducted research in collaboration with over 60 undergraduates at
Harvey Mudd. She has 50 publication in scientific journals and
publishes regularly with undergraduate co-authors. She and her
students have presented research results at national meetings of the
American Chemical Society, the American Society for Photobiology, and the
Biophysical Society, as well as at regional and international
meetings. She is a member of the Chemical Education and Physical
Chemistry Divisions of the American Chemical Society. She has
actively sought to increase the opportunities for undergraduates to
participate in research activities early in their college careers.
She was selected as a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar in 1994. She has
been a CUR Councilor for the Chemistry Division since 1993 and is serving
as Chair of the Data and Statistics Committee. She is currently
actively involved in the design of web-based directories for each division
of CUR. |