About

My primary and secondary education were in the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools.  At Oberlin College in Ohio, I discovered my love of Chemistry.   At the University of California at Berkeley, I became fascinated by how inorganic chemistry is used in biology.  My Ph.D. research in Ken Raymond’s lab explored the types of functional groups that could bind iron tightly in the environment and within biological cells.  A post-doctoral appointment in Larry Que’s lab at the University of Minnesota and later a sabbatical leave with Judith Klinman (back in Berkeley) allowed me to gain experience with protein biochemistry.  I’ve learned much from and enjoyed collaborations and sabbatical visits with great synthetic and physical bioinorganic chemists including Andy Borovik, Charlie Riordan and Nicholai Lehnert.  I’m fortunate to have been supported by the scholarly community of bioinorganic chemists, who are not only brilliant and creative, but also are quick to collaborate and support each other.  For the past three decades I’ve taught in the Chemistry Department at Haverford College.  At Haverford, I work with wonderful and dedicated colleagues and have been privileged to both teach and learn from many amazing students who have passed through my courses and research labs.