Chemistry Office Information
Department Chair: Joan M. Esson
Location: Science Center 236, 155 W. Main St.
Hours: Monday – Friday (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
Contact: Donna Rhodeback, Administrative Assistant
Phone: 614-823-1517
Email: drhodeback@otterbein.edu
Faculty
Joan M. Esson
Professor & Department Chair
Joan M. Esson, Ph. D., joined the Otterbein faculty in 2007 as a specialist in Analytical Chemistry. She teaches courses in General Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Instrumental Analysis, Advanced Laboratory, Senior Year Experience and Integrative Studies (including a faculty-led study abroad course). She also oversees the Cardinal Science Scholars Program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. Esson is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College where she received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, which was followed by graduate studies at…
Carrigan Hayes
Professor
Carrie joined the Otterbein faculty in Fall 2009; she currently teaches coursework in the General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry sequences, and she contributes multiple courses to the Integrative Studies (INST) program. Carrie graduated from Ohio Northern University in 2002, earning a B.S. in Chemistry and English. She completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at The Ohio State University in 2007. From 2007-2009, Carrie worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Computational Chemistry Group at the National Institute of Standards…
Dean Johnston
Professor
Dean Johnston started at Otterbein in 1995 and teaches courses in General Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Cheminformatics, and X-ray Crystallography. Dean received his undergraduate education at the College of Wooster where he majored in Chemistry. He earned a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at Northwestern University working with Duward Shriver and continued his studies conducting post-doctoral work with H. Holden Thorp at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dean’s primary research interests are in synthetic inorganic chemistry and the photophysical…
Brittney Mize
Assistant Professor
Brittney Mize obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Otterbein University in 2018 in addition to her AYA Life Science Ohio Teaching License in 2021. She obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Science under the supervision of Dr. James Fuchs at The Ohio State University in 2023. She has focused her research on analogue development and target identification of natural products with anti-ovarian cancer activity. In addition, she has also designed and executed a synthesis of novel…
Brigitte Ramos
Associate Professor
Dr. Ramos has been a member of the chemistry department since the fall of 2015. Previously, she worked as a forensic chemist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Forensic Chemistry Center. She earned her B.S. in chemistry at Youngstown State University, and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati. Following her graduate work, Dr. Ramos went on to complete a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dr. Ramos teaches courses in both the Chemistry…
John Tansey
Professor & Faculty Trustee
John Tansey has been a faculty member at Otterbein since 2002. He has taught courses ranging from the more general (General Chemistry, Survey of Organic and Biochemistry) to more specific (Advanced Biochemistry). He has also taught in the Nursing department and Integrative Studies, and Honors programs. He was awarded the ‘Best New Teacher’ award in 2004. He currently serves as the Director of the interdisciplinary program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB). John is a graduate of the University of…
Staff
Part Time Faculty in Chemistry
Angela Howard
Part-Time Faculty in Chemistry
I’ve been working at Columbus State Community College for the past eleven years where I currently hold the position of Assistant Professor. In addition, I joined Otterbein University (2023) as a chemistry adjunct faculty.
Wendy Johnston
Part-Time Faculty in Chemistry
Dr. W. Johnston joined the Otterbein faculty in 1995 teaching courses in both the Chemistry and Biology departments. Over the years, she has taught a diverse array of science courses including Genetics, Cell Biology, Immunology; and more recently, she has focused on General Chemistry Laboratories. She especially enjoys an inquiry-based approach to teaching in the lab. Wendy is a 1986 graduate of Duke University with a B.S. in Biology. She completed her graduate work in the Immunology lab of Susan…
Emily Tansey
Part-Time Faculty in Bio-Chemistry
Emily has been a part of the Otterbein community for a little over 15 years. In the department of Chemistry, she teaches General Chemistry lecture and lab courses for nonmajors and the Biochemistry/Organic Integrative Studies course. She also teaches multiple Biochemistry labs and a biochemistry of food course for the Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Emily grew up in Zanesville, Ohio and graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Milligan College in Tennessee and a M.S. degree in Biochemistry…