About the Authors
Shirley Wacowich-Sgarbi, PhD, Langara College – Vancouver, BC
Dr. Shirley Wacowich-Sgarbi is a chemistry instructor at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. She received her B.Sc. (Honours) from McGill University majoring in chemistry with the bio-organic option. She then earned her PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Alberta doing carbohydrate research while mentored by Dr. Dave Bundle. After doing postdoctoral research on cancer vaccines with Dr. Chi-Huey Wong at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, she worked a few years in a biotech company in San Diego and then a few years in a biotech company in Vancouver, BC. In 2005, she made the leap into teaching chemistry at Langara College, where she currently teaches introductory chemistry, general chemistry and organic chemistry.
Paul Flowers, PhD, University of North Carolina – Pembroke
Dr. Paul Flowers earned a BS in Chemistry from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 1983 and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1988. After a one-year postdoctoral appointment at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he joined the University of North Carolina–Pembroke in the fall of 1989. Dr. Flowers teaches courses in general and analytical chemistry, and conducts experimental research involving the development of new devices and methods for microscale chemical analysis.
Klaus Theopold, PhD, University of Delaware
Dr. Klaus Theopold (born in Berlin, Germany) received his Vordiplom from the Universität Hamburg in 1977. He then decided to pursue his graduate studies in the United States, where he received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1982. After a year of postdoctoral research at MIT, he joined the faculty at Cornell University. In 1990, he moved to the University of Delaware, where he is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and serves as an Associate Director of the University’s Center for Catalytic Science and Technology. Dr. Theopold regularly teaches graduate courses in inorganic and organometallic chemistry as well as General Chemistry.
Richard Langley, PhD, Stephen F. Austin State University
Dr. Richard Langley earned BS degrees in Chemistry and Mineralogy from Miami University of Ohio in the early 1970s and went on to receive his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska in 1977. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Arizona State University Center for Solid State Studies, Dr. Langley taught in the University of Wisconsin system and participated in research at Argonne National Laboratory. Moving to Stephen F. Austin State University in 1982, Dr. Langley today serves as Professor of Chemistry. His areas of specialization are solid state chemistry, synthetic inorganic chemistry, fluorine chemistry, and chemical education.
Jessie Key, PhD, Vancouver Island University – Nanaimo, BC
Dr. Jessie Key is a professor of chemistry at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. He received his Ph.D from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, and his B.Sc (Hons.) from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. Jessie’s main area of research expertise is chemical biology; with a focus on fluorophore synthesis, cellular labelling and bioassays. He currently teaches general chemistry and organic chemistry at Vancouver Island University, and does research on the use of technology in chemical education.
David Ball, PhD, Cleveland State University
Dr. Ball is a professor of chemistry at Cleveland State University in Ohio. He earned his PhD from Rice University in Houston, Texas. His specialty is physical chemistry, which he teaches at the undergraduate and graduate levels. About 50 percent of his teaching is in general chemistry: chemistry for nonscience majors, GOB, and general chemistry for science and engineering majors. In addition to this text, he is the author of a math review book for general chemistry students, a physical chemistry textbook with accompanying student and instructor solutions manuals, and two books on spectroscopy (published by SPIE Press). He is coauthor of a general chemistry textbook (with Dan Reger and Scott Goode), whose third edition was published in January 2009. His publication list has over 180 items, roughly evenly distributed between research papers and articles of educational interest.
Timothy Soderberg, PhD, University of Minnesota
