Faculty

Maria Dean (associate professor, 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. Maria’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.

Susan Noreuil (Science Teaching Associate and Chemical Hygiene Officer) received her bachelor's degree in medical technology, with minors in chemistry and biology, from Illinois State in 1982. She gained a tremendous amount of laboratory experience working as a medical technologist at St. Luke’s Hospital here in Cedar Rapids since that time. Susan’s position is Science Teaching Associate, which means that she teaches and assists in the laboratory, as well as maintaining the chemistry stockroom. She has developed a Forensic Science course, which is a very popular offering as a non-laboratory science. She is also the college’s Chemical Hygiene Officer, responsible for training staff and students campus wide on how to safely handle chemicals in the workplace and in the lab.

Marty St. Clair (associate professor and chair, analytical and inorganic) grew up on a farm in Indiana and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry and environmental studies in 1983. He completed his graduate work in organometallic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1989, and received a Dreyfus Fellowship to teach and do research at Occidental College in Los Angeles during the 1989-90 academic year. Marty directed the Environmental Engineering Laboratory in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa prior to joining the Coe faculty in 1993. His interests include water chemistry and electrochemistry. He has been the principal investigator on five NSF grants for instrumentation (and co-PI on two more) since he has been at Coe, as well as receiving research support from the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF), the Iowa Academy of Science, the Dreyfus Foundation, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the City of Cedar Rapids, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Steve Singleton (associate professor, physical chemistry) is a native Coloradan, and received his undergraduate chemistry education from Fort Lewis College in 1987. His Ph.D is from the University of Denver, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Air Force’s Phillips Laboratory in Massachusetts. Steve then gained teaching experience at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff prior to joining the Coe faculty in 1999. Steve’s areas of interests include time-resolved laser spectroscopy, applied both to glasses and to atmospheric chemistry. His research has been supported by the ACS-PRF and Research Corporation. When he’s not at Coe, he’s likely to be flying his Piper Warrior II.

Scott Stoudt (associate professor, organic) grew up in Pennsylvania, and received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Penn State in 1989. Scott then obtained his Ph.D. in physical organic/inorganic chemistry from Michigan State in 1995, taught at Bennington College in Vermont for a year, and returned to Michigan State for a post-doctoral fellowship. Scott then took a position at Siena College, a private liberal arts college in New York, for three years prior to coming to Coe in 2000. Scott’s interests include the structure and dynamics of hypervalent (more than four bonds) tin compounds. Scott’s research has been supported by ACS-PRF and by Research Corporation. Scott is also an accomplished chess player, who regularly competes in tournaments and has taught a chess course at Coe.