Teaching, 研究 Drive Chemistry Professor

亚当Urbach receives national recognition, looks to bright future for 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 chem, STEM

As a scientist at a liberal arts university, 亚当Urbach, Ph.D., walks a fine line between gathering new knowledge and sharing that knowledge with undergraduates.

That’s an important designation to make, because not every university gives professors the chance to conduct high-level 研究 at the same time as making a high-level impact on their students’ lives. 

But that’s why Urbach, now in his 20th year with 圣澳门金沙赌城线上游戏’s 化学 department, came to campus in the first place.

“When I interviewed at 澳门金沙线上赌博官网, I was immediately taken by how student-focused the faculty were, and by how excited they were about teaching, 做研究, and especially 做研究 with undergraduate students,乌尔巴赫回忆道. “I saw 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 as an ideal fit for me because I loved to teach and was still very interested in 研究. It was clear that the combination of rigorous classroom and laboratory courses combined with undergraduate 研究 creates the best possible 化学 education, and that 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 had the infrastructure and the culture needed to carry out high-quality 研究.”

And don’t let anyone from a large 研究 institution tell you that 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 professors like Urbach can’t have it all—he’s just been named a 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)—one of the most prestigious recognitions possible for U.S. 科学家们.

“For me, it was surprising to get the call from Dr. 彼得Dorhout, former president of the American Chemical Society, 谁提名我得奖的, and it was humbling to be elected as a Fellow of the AAAS,乌尔巴赫谈到这项荣誉时说. “For the 化学 department and the University, it is terrific to have the recognition of the AAAS for the quality of the 研究 taking place here, 研究 being carried out primarily by undergraduate students.”

Urbach, when he’s not leading courses in organic 化学, 化学合成, 药物化学, 或者是超分子化学, is open for office hours in his corner of 澳门金沙线上赌博官网’s Center for the Sciences and Innovation, where he’s just as fast to offer advice to students as he is to share a caffeine salvo from his espresso machine.

And in the lab, Urbach is just as high-powered. 还有他的本科生, Urbach’s 研究 areas include supramolecular 化学, 生物有机化学, 药物配方, 蛋白质工程, 和生物传感器. His 研究 program has developed rules for predictably interacting with proteins, leading to applications in 药物配方, 生物传感器, 表面化学, 材料科学, 和纳米科学.

就在这个春天, Urbach’s group of student 研究ers has been featured by not one, but two national 化学 journals.

在 Journal of the American Chemical Society, the group appears on the supplementary cover for its work on unfolded proteins, which have ramifications for many natural processes and diseases but have proved notoriously difficult to study. “我们的论文,乌尔巴赫说, “provides a way to both interact with unfolded proteins and to give them structure.”

第二本日记， 化学科学, is the flagship paper of the Royal Society of Chemistry, from the United Kingdom. Appearing on the outer back cover, Urbach’s team is noted for its work on the interaction between a small protein and a synthetic receptor. “Most proteins in our bodies are present only in very small concentrations, and the stronger we can interact with a protein, the lower the concentration we need to access it,乌尔巴赫说. “我们的论文 provides a way to access proteins in a concentration range that is highly relevant in biology.”

As Urbach looks forward to another successful 夏季研究会议 实践的温床, experiential activity for 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 students), he says 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 still feels like the perfect place to work with 化学 undergraduates, just as much as it did decades ago.

“20年后, 我仍然热爱我的工作, and I'm still fully committed to 澳门金沙线上赌博官网’s mission,乌尔巴赫说. “I have been fortunate to have outstanding students and colleagues, strong support from external funding agencies and from University administration, and some good luck in the 研究 lab. This has been a great home, and I look forward to many more years at 澳门金沙线上赌博官网.”