2004 IOTA SIGMA PI CENTENNIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

Professor Rose Ann Clark, Saint Francis University

Professor Rose Ann Clark, Associate Professor at Saint Francis University, is the 2004 recipient of the Iota Sigma Pi Centennial Award for Excellence in Teaching. This award is given for excellence in teaching chemistry, biochemistry, or a chemistry-related field at an undergraduate institution that does not offer a graduate program in that field.

Dr. Rose Ann Clark received a B.S. in chemistry at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington and a Ph. D. in analytical chemistry from North Carolina State University under the direction of Edmond F. Bowden. After spending two years as a NSF postdoctoral fellow at Pennsylvania State University with Dr. Andrew Ewing, she joined the Chemistry Department at Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA to focus on undergraduate education and research. 

Dr. Clark has been instrumental in the transformation of the Chemistry Department at Saint Francis. The department has undergone complete curriculum revisions with addition of concentrations in forensic chemistry, biochemistry and a neuroscience minor. Not only the curriculum is changing, but the method of teaching has also changed. Dr. Clark adopted new active learning textbooks to further encourage active learning in general chemistry classes and helped to redesign the ways labs are taught by incorporating cooperative learning at all levels. 

Dr. Clark is driven to educate undergraduates and to get more students interested in the field of chemistry. She is a very caring person and would do anything to help her students reach their goals. Dr. Clark measures her success by the success of her students. Since research is the ultimate teaching tool to excite students, she encourages all students to get involved in a research project as soon as possible, ideally during their freshman year. Her success at making research an effective teaching tool for undergraduates is reflected in the progress of students she has mentored. Undergraduates conducting research with Dr. Clark have presented a large number of papers at conferences locally, regionally, and nationally. Dr. Clark has also made 30 research presentations and was an invited speaker for a Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Education: A Showcase of Faculty at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions held at the 2004 Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy. She has 15 publications in various journals including, Analytical Chemistry, the Journal of Physical Chemistry and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 

To further improve chemistry education at Saint Francis, Dr. Clark has been a strong force in grant writing for teaching and research. She has obtained funding from the NSF, Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh, ACS, and others. Dr. Clark is continuing her quest for new equipment by submitting a 2003 NSF-CCLI to provide more instrumentation for the forensic science concentration.   Improvements to the department have produced a record number of chemistry majors. Saint Francis Chemistry now has 32 majors (an 8 fold increase) and with 9 chemistry majors graduating and 15 students committed for the Fall 2004 the numbers continue to grow. 

In addition to teaching, mentoring, and research, Dr. Clark is very involved in community outreach.  The Chemistry Department and student volunteers run the Rural Outreach Chemistry for Kids Program, reaching 1,500 students and conducting 65 plus events.  Some of her other activities include promoting women and minorities in science by participating in the Department of Labor U.S. Women’s Bureau Girl’s E-Mentoring in Science, Engineering and Technology, the ACS Project Seed Program, and the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science.