Leah Witus

Professor Witus is from Michigan and attended Rice University, where she majored in chemistry and did research with Professor Jeffrey Hartgerink. She obtained her PhD in chemistry at the University of California Berkeley as part of the Chemical Biology Graduate Program, where she worked with Professor Matthew Francis on protein bioconjugation reactions. She then did research on synthetic molecular machines as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor Fraser Stoddart at Northwestern University. Professor Witus joined the faculty at Macalester College in 2015.

As a Macalester Professor, Professor Witus’s teaching centers on biochemistry and general chemistry. In addition to courses, Professor Witus views the research laboratory as a rich teaching environment. She has mentored many Macalester students in research, and together they have sought to understand and develop peptide and protein catalysts. This work has resulted in publications with Macalester student co-authors and has been awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Professor Witus is also interested in science communication with the general public.

Education

University of California Berkeley • Berkeley, California  • 2007 – 2012

Ph.D. in chemistry

Rice University • Houston, Texas • 2003 – 2007

B.S. in chemistry, magna cum laude 

Training

NIH NRSA Postdoctoral fellow with Professor Fraser Stoddart

Northwestern University • 2012 – 2015

NSF GRFP Graduate researcher with Professor Matthew B. Francis

UC Berkeley • 2007 – 2012

Undergraduate researcher with Professor Jeffrey D. Hartgerink

Rice University • 2004 – 2007