Wendy Johnston

Part-Time Faculty in Chemistry
Department of 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 K. Pierce in antigen processing and presentation earning her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology from Northwestern University in 1992. She conducted post-doctoral research in the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at UNC-Chapel Hill focusing on animal models of Rheumatoid Arthritis and anti-inflammatory gene therapy. Dr. Johnston is passionate about science literacy and increasing accessibility to science through interdisciplinary teaching and science outreach in the community. She has enjoyed incorporating service-learning into many of her science classes and has developed Integrative Studies (CSI Otterbein) and SYE classes to increase student exposure to science topics. For over ten years, her SYE: The Face of AIDS class has engaged students across disciplines in examining not only the research and medical science but the social, historical, political, and cultural aspects involved in addressing the global HIV/AIDS crisis. In 2020 Dr. Johnston received the Part-Time Faculty Teaching Award for her tireless devotion and commitment to Otterbein students.