Faculty

Maria Dean (chemistry, biochemistry) received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 1985 — after her two children were nearly grown. She went on to complete her Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in 1991, where her work involved the synthesis, separation, and analysis of sucrose fatty acid esters. She stayed in Lincoln as a postdoctoral associate at the University, while also teaching biochemistry at a small liberal arts college. Dr. Dean's teaching interests at Coe include food chemistry as well as biochemistry. She is also a pre-med, pre-health advisor and helps arrange internships in health and science. Her research centers on the biochemistry of marine cements. One of her most recent grants was from the National Science Foundation for the purchase of new UV/visible spectrophotometers for use in general and biochemistry laboratories. In a collaboration with other faculty and staff, she also received a grant from the Midwest Instructional Technology Center for pre-lab instruction modules for the web.

Tom Tauer (biology, molecular biology) graduated from St. Cloud State University with a bachelor of science in 1990, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska's Medical Center in 1996. Prior to teaching at Coe, Dr. Tauer was a professor at Cameron University in Oklahoma. Dr. Tauer's reasearch interests include developing uses of educational technology for laboratory instruction and the molecular biology of cement-secreting sea worms. He recently received a grant from the Li-Cor Corporation for the purchase of a DNA sequencer currently in use at Coe. Dr. Tauer was the recipient of the 2004 Lynch Award at Coe for outstanding teaching.