1. Can you tell us your home department and how long have you been a faculty at APU?

Biology and Chemistry is my home department and I have been at APU for 14 years. Our department was originally located in Wynn (east campus) and then moved to Segerstrom in 2009.

2. What are the classes you will be teaching?

The courses I am teaching this semester are organic chemistry lecture and laboratory courses.

3. When and how did you get interested in studying Chemistry (or science in general)? What is your area of research/teaching and how did you get interested in this area?

As an undergraduate, I was like most biology students, a pre-med, until my sophomore year when I had to take organic chemistry to satisfy my major requirements. Dr. Taagepera was one of the three faculty teaching that quarter (quarter system, unlike the semester system here at APU). She was known to be the hardest, so most students avoided her when possible. Unfortunately for me, her section was the only one that fit my schedule. My initial thought was that I was going to fail her course. However, Dr. Taagepera had a strong passion for chemical education. The reason she was known to be a challenging professor was that she cared deeply about our learning. Her office hours were always packed with students. She made the subject fun and exciting. I soon fell in love with structural elucidation via spectroscopy as well as organic synthesis techniques. In a sense, she was my role model because at that time I wanted to be like her, making challenging concepts simple and fun. Towards the end of the second quarter, I saw the light and switched my dmajor to chemistry.

At the same time when I was taking organic chemistry, I was doing undergraduate research in pharmacology in the laboratory of Dr. Sue Duckles. Again, I was a premed major back then so I did biology research. I measured the amount of neuropeptide Y release in rodents under various conditions. What was exciting about research was when I got to disseminate my findings through research conference presentations as well as publishing a peer-reviewed manuscript. During my junior year, I decided to venture into chemical research. I worked with Dr. James Nowick making amino acid building blocks that were precursors for artificial beta-sheets. Like my time in the pharmacology lab, I was also able to disseminate through presentations and manuscript publication.

4. What are some of the things you most enjoy being in APU?

Helping students see the beauty of organic chemistry has been rewarding. I am currently using the American Chemical Society (ACS) Standardized Exam for my final exam, and some of our students performed exceptionally well, scoring in the 90th percentile when compared to other institutions! In addition, mentoring students in undergraduate research has been exciting. Recently, our research team submitted a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.

The opportunity to help students grow in their faith has been amazing. A few years ago, my wife and I led an APU action team to India. Since most of the students were pre-med and pre-health majors, we coordinated with a local hospital and a private health care facility. In addition to missions trips, I also do discipleship with students off-campus. We usually meet at Mantra Coffee and I introduce students to my favorites: Affogato or London Fog. Then, we read books like Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz and Bob Goff's Love Does and talk about what God has been doing in our lives.

5. What are some fun things you like to do?

Playing guitar is one of my hobbies. I usually like to go to Guitar Center and play on the most expensive guitar for fun. Also, I have been doing some gardening, planting flowers like calla lilies. I also enjoy reading. Currently, I have been reading Francis Su's Mathematics for Human Flourishing and I am inspired to consider writing a book entitled, Organic Chemistry for Human Flourishing!

6. Anything else you would like the STEM community to know about you?

I hope to connect with you all this semester and see if we can do some collaboration in research and/or teaching!