Board of Regents approves promotions

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved the promotions of David Blank, Michael Bowser and Christy Haynes from associate professors to professors, and Christopher Douglas and Valerie Pierre from assistant professors to associate professors with tenure. The promotions are effective, Tuesday, July 1.

David Blank joined the Department of Chemistry in 2000 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2006. He came to the university after earning his doctorate in chemistry and conducting post-doctoral research under Professor Graham Fleming at the University of California at Berkeley. His research group investigates a variety of dynamic events in condensed media.

Michael Bowser joined the Department of Chemistry in 2000 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2006. He came to the university after earning his doctorate at the University of British Columbia, and conducting post-doctoral research at the University of Florida, working with Professor Robert Kennedy. His research is focused on bioanalytical chemistry, including identifying areas of science limited by technological development.

Christy Haynes joined the Department of Chemistry in 2005 and was promoted to associate professor in 2010. She earned her doctorate in chemistry from Northwestern University, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, working with Professor R. Mark Wightman. Her research group focuses on applications of analytical chemistry in the fields of immunology and toxicology, with much expertise in the area of single cell analysis.

Christopher Douglas joined the Department of Chemistry in 2007. He earned his doctorate in chemistry at the University of California, Irvine, and was a National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology, working with Professor Robert Grubbs. Research in his group focuses on the development of new synthetic methods and on finding solutions to a variety of synthesis problems.

Valerie Pierre joined the Department of Chemistry in 2007. She earned her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a post-doctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology, working with Professor Jacqueline Barton. Her group works at the intersection of synthetic and analytical chemistry, using organic and inorganic chemistry, material science and chemical biology to design, develop and promulgate new probes for cell biology and for medicine.