Page of Chemistry Alumni

Alumni of the UCA Chemistry Department are listed below in chronological order. Please notify us of any omissions or to update any information provided. We are soliciting biographies to add to our collection.

You may either scroll down the page or select the appropriate year from the list below

1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

1966

John David Richardson

John David taught in the public schools in northeast Arkansas for many years and is currently retired.

Karen Shewbart

I received an MS in Chemistry from UALR (GIT) in 1969 and then moved to Texas and went to work for Dow in analytical services. After 7 years I moved to Environmental Services for Dow and ultimately became the Environmental Manager for Dow’s Texas Operations. I moved to Urethane Manufacturing for 3 years managing isocyanate and Polyol manufacturing and then to to Epoxy Manufacturing in 1990 and was responsible for all of Dow's $250 Million dollar Epoxy business. In 1996 I became the Global Training Manager responsible for Uniting Dow and Union Carbide folks under one standard system. I retired in June, 2001 and has become a golfer full time. In 2004 I won the Executive Women's Golf Association Houston Championship, went on and won the state of Texas tournament in San Antonio, and placed Second in Nashville at the Nationals. I spend lots of time with the grand daughters, traveling (with golf clubs) and playing lots of golf. I have been on the Governor’s Commission on Education, the Governors Commission on Environmental Policy and other state boards. In December, 2002 I gave the Commencement address at the Univ. of Texas in Austin. Karen is Currently Chair or the Univ. of Texas in Austin, College of Natural Science, Advisory Board.

1967

Cecil Ritter

Cecil and his wife, Ann, began teaching in the Crossett Public Schools after graduation. Cecil taught chemistry and physics and also completed an MSE degree at UCA. In 1995 he moved to the UAM Technical Campus Crossett as an instructor and retired from there in 2002. Cecil serves on the city water commission and on several committees concerned with school and educational improvement.

Cecil and Ann have two children, Beth and Daniel, as well as seven grandchildren. Cecil says, “I have only fond memories of my time at UCA and in the chemistry department. It prepared me well for a career which I enjoyed very much as interacting with the brightest kids in the district helped keep me young! I often run into former graduates and am always interested to discuss 'old times' with them as well as their successes. “

Bill Shewbart

Bill's e-mail

I did graduate work at the Univ. of Arkansas in Little Rock for 1 1/2 years. I went to work for Dow Badische in 1969 doing Pilot Plant R&D Nylon chemistry and transferred to Dow Chemical Hydrocarbon Process research in 1971 where I worked with Hydrocarbon catalysts, and light hydrocarbon processes. In 1981 I changed to Urethanes Research. and worked with Proplyene and Butylene oxide chemistry, catalysts for polymerization or Oxides. I moved to the safety area for R&D in 1985 and became North American R&D Safety Director in 1988. In 1990 I became Global Reactive Chemical Manager for Dow. Promoted programs for safe handling of chemicals and investigated Chemical reactivity incidents. Since retiring from Dow in Sept 1994 at age 50, traveling with wife, golfing, and grand kids keep me busy. We have 2 children and have been married 38 years now. My Son Andrew lives in Taipei, Taiwan and owns 3 schools teaching English to Chinese children, mainly elementary age kids. He is completely fluent in Chinese. My Daughter lives here in Houston( near us) is married and has 2 granddaughters 4 and 1 1/2. She is a CPA. I try to see the grand kids as often as possible.

1968

Bill Shipp

Bill received a doctorate in health physics from Purdue University. He served in a variety of positions at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago before transferring to the Hanover Labs in Washington where he currently works.

Jim Irving

Jim taught chemistry in the public schools in Pulaski County for many years. He is currently on the faculty at Pulaski Technical College.

1969

Gary Canada

Gary graduated in the summer of 1969 with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. He was active in the ACS Student Affiliate. After graduation his first job was teaching 7th and 8th grade math in Wrangell, Alaska where they commuted by boat to work. After one year there he and his wife (Hanna Boles who also graduated from UCA in 1969) moved back to England, Ark. where he taught chemistry, biology, physics and coached at England Academy until 1973. He retired from teaching and went to work at the Bank of England as a teller. He became president of the bank in 1989. Gary and Hanna have three children and seven grandchildren.

Marvin Tanner

Pat Cowger Finkenbinder

Pat returned to Dardanelle after graduation and went to work in the lab for a chicken feed company. That company was ultimately bought out by Tyson. Pat is a supervisor in the Tyson processing plant.

Gary White

Gary received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He worked for Exxon and Nalco in the United States before accepting a position as chief oil field chemist for ARAMCO in Saudi Arabi. After travels over much of the world Gary has returned to Conway where he teaches chemistry at Conway High School and also serves as an adjunct faculty member in chemistry at UCA.

Richard Thompson

Richard went to work for the Ecology and Pollution Department of the State of Arkansas. Although the name of this branch of state government has changed several times over the years, Richard has remained employed there.

1972

John Mitchell

John worked for the Ecology and Pollution Department. He retired a few year ago.

Joe Barnes

Joe lives in Vilonia and is currently retired from the Arkansas Crime Lab.

Don Riddle

Don lives in Vilonia and works at the Arkansas Crime Lab.

Scotty Cook

Scotty received an MD from UAMS. He has practiced medicine and has also held a variety of faculty positions in medical schools including UAMS.

1973

C.C. Garner

C.C. received an M.D. degree from UAMS and when last heard from was practicing in Florida.

Gary Dallas

Gary obtained a position with the Arkansas State Crime Lab where he is currently the head of the drug section.

1974

Carl Harris

Carl's e-mail

Carl received a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from UA-Fayetteville. He has been the training officer at the Arkansas Nuclear Reactor facility in Russellville for a number of years. He continues to play guitar and banjo in a band.

Jerry Wilson

Jerry worked as a musician after graduation, then joined the Navy and became a pilot. After his tour of duty Jerry became a pilot for a commercial airline.

1975

Richard Daily

Richard received an MD from UAMS and when last heard of was practicing medicine in Harrison.

David Matchett

David obtained a position with the Arkansas Department of Ecology and Pollution and has been employed there for a number of years.

Ron Shephard

Ron's e-mail

I graduated from UCA in 1975. I went to graduate school at the University of Utah, and finished my PhD in 1980 in Physical Chemistry. I was a postdoc at Battelle Columbus Laboratories in Columbus, Ohio for a year, and then I was hired as staff there in 1981. I moved from there in November 1981 to Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois, and I have been here since that time. Argonne is a Department of Energy laboratory, and our research group here studies combustion chemistry. We have both experimentalists and theoreticians in our group. I am a theoretician and I do mostly method development in electronic structure theory, but I sometimes do some applications and work in other areas of physical chemistry such as potential energy surface fitting, vibrational wave function calculations, or chemical kinetics. I also publish some applied mathematics and numerical methods work from time to time about things like data compression and eigenvalue calculations. Here is a link to our research group:
http://http://www.chm.anl.gov/chem-dyn/index.html
and here is a link to a summary of my research:
http://www.chm.anl.gov/chem-dyn/Section-C-RonShepard.htm .
My wife and I have a son who is currently a senior in high school. My hobbies include playing pool in local leagues and in tournaments. I sometimes play in pool tournaments when I travel for work. Here is a link to some pictures from the tournaments I've played in http://www.azbilliards.com/thepros/2000showplayer2005.cfm? playernum=1879
I also referee some of the professional and amateur tournaments. Here are a couple of links to some stuff that I have written about pool and physics:
http://www.sfbilliards.com/shepard_squirt.pdf
http://www.sfbilliards.com/shepard_apapp.pdf

1976

Bob Beaton

Bob received a masters degree from ASU-Jonesboro and then received an MD from UAMS.

William C. Deese

After graduating from UCA in 1976 I attended graduate school for five years in Fayetteville (Ph.D, 1982), . I have taught at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana since the fall of 1981. I am now the C. W. Ray Johnson Professor of Chemistry in the College of Engineering and Science. Since the late eighties, my research interests have been mainly in chemical and science education. I spend the summers conducting professional development institutes for middle school and high school science teachers.
I have been married to Evelyn "Archer", whom I met in Dr. Manion's organic class, since 1979. We have one daughter, Nicole. She is a sophomore at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. For exercise I enjoy playing basketball and juggling. My newest hobby is playing drums.

Mike Houchens

Mike obtained a position in the laboratory for Maybelline in Lonoke and he currently has overall responsibility for quality control at the plant.

Elizabeth Howard

Elizabeth also obtained a position in the laboratory at Maybelline.

Alan Irby

Alan has been employed by Abbott Laboratories for the past 25 years working in North Carolina, Texas and New Orleans. He currently is part of international supply chain management for Hospira, the hospital products division of Abbott in Lake Forest, IL. His children are grown and he and his wife of 27 years enjoy living in the Chicago area. He remembers New Orleans fondly and visits there frequently. He hopes to retire to the Hot Springs area.

Jim Justus

Jim obtained an MD at UAMS and practiced for several years. He became seriously ill and died several years ago.

Gerhard Laule

Gerhard Laule teaches chemistry at Seminole State College, where he has been since January, 1988. He received my M.S. from the University of Arkansas Graduate Institute of Technology in 1986 and then spent a year working on his doctorate in Physical Chemistry at the University of Oregon. As a faculty member at SSC, he has served as chair of the Math/Science/Engineering division and has continued graduate work at Oklahoma State University in Inorganic Chemistry and Chemical Education. Currently He devotes most of his time to teaching Gen Chem I and II and Intro Chem as well as serving as an Adjunct Chemistry Instructor at Oklahoma Baptist University where he teaches the Nursing Chem labs. Hobbies include competitive bicycling racing, hiking, camping etc. Check out his web site at www.gerhardl.phpwebhosting.com.

Laquetta Moore Purkiss

Laquetta and her husband,David, live in Lubbock, TX where they are both employed by Texas Tech University. Laquetta is responsible for laboratory classes in general and organic chemistry.

John Shore

John received a PhD from Texas A & M.

Ricky Stamps

After receiving an M.S. degree from the University of Alabama in 1981, Ricky went to work in Texaco’s research labs in Port Arthur, TX where he worked in industrial lubricant and grease development. He transferred to Shell’s Westhollow Technology Center in 1988. He is currently a Senior Chemist, Lubricants with Shell’s global technology organization, Shell Global Solutions, where he is a team leader supporting industrial, transport and aviation greases. He also serves informally as the building computer geek. His work with a global unit has allowed him to travel extensively. Ricky and his wife live in Katy, Texas and have three sons (two in college and one in high school). Ricky’s hobbies include building computers, refurbishing vintage hi-fi speakers, and playing an occasional game of casino black jack.

1977

James Duke

I graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in 1981 and practiced Emergency Medicine until I entered a 3-yr Residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, TX in 1989. I moved to Colorado in 1992 and I’m currently an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Associate Director of Anesthesiology, Denver Health Medical Center. My responsibilities include educating medical students and supervising residents in anesthesiology in the operating room. I am the editor of two anesthesia textbooks, "Anesthesia Secrets" currently in third edition, and "Anesthesia Pearls." I have just been accepted into the Executive MBA program in Health Administration at the University of Colorado.

I have been married to Renee for over 10 years and serve at the beck and call of 2 cats, Desi and Audrey. I enjoy roaring through the Colorado mountains on my Harley Davidson Road King and I’m taking 2-step country dance lessons at the Grizzly Rose, recently named the Country Music Association Honky Tonk of the Year! I ski a little, garden a lot, read all the time and try to get a nap in every day, though sometimes this doesn't work out. I have the fondest of memories of my times in the UCA Chemistry department and if I had to do it again, I would.

Jim Fraser

After graduation in '77 , Jim worked briefly as a lab tech in a private waste water lab in Little Rock and in quality control at Maybelline. He worked in R&D at Reynolds Metals for five years until they relocated and then two years for a petroleum refinery in Shreveport, LA. He returned to Arkansas, to work for AP&L as a chemist in the lab at the nuclear plant in Russellville. He moved from there to the corporate tech support group in Little Rock after a couple of years and was there 6 years until Entergy relocated that group to New Orleans. He began work in 1992 for Calgon selling water treatment chemicals to power plants. Calgon has since merged with Nalco for whom he is currently involved with water treatment in a variety of industries. In1996 he received a MS in Operations Management form the University of Arkansas. Jim and his wife, Debby, live in the middle of 200 wooded acres outside of Batesville where he is an avid bow hunter with an emphasis in turkeys. His children, Ryan and Lana Lawrence, live in Vilonia along with his 4 grandchildren. You can contact Jim at Jim’s e-mail

Steve Graham

Gerald Hook

Bill McKelvey

Bill taught briefly in the public schools at Heber Springs and then began work as a chemist at Arkansas Nuclear Reactor.

Susan Rongey

Eddie Shiller

Eddie went to work for Alcoa in Benton upon graduation.

Tim Thomas

1978

Rusty Degges

Tom Ezell

After serving in the military Tom returned to UCA to take a teacher training program.

William (Bobby) Floyd

Bobby's goal when he came to UCA was to return to Nashville and work in the concrete manufacturing plant there. He did so and had been there ever since. His son, Tyler, will enter UCA in the fall of 2007.

Mike Jones

Jay Kemper

Rosalyn Riding

Becky Stewart

Carol Wiedower

1979

Joe Allison

Joe received a PhD degree in inorganic chemistry from Purdue University in 1983. He then obtained a job with Conoco (now Phillips-Conoco) where he has held a number of positions and is currently the Director of Catalysts Development for the Gas-To-Liquids R&D Department.

Chet Barber

Chet is currently employed as a pharmacist.

Richard Davis

Laura Hollenbeck Allison

After grauating as the 1979 top overall UCA graduate Laura attended Purdue University on an NSF predoctoral scholarship in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. After receiving an M.S. degree in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy in 1981 Laura worked at BioAnalytical Systems as a Research Chemist from 1981 to 1983. Since 1983 she and Joe have lived in Ponca City, Oklahoma in 1983 where she is a Senior Scientist in the Analytical Services Department specializing in Mass Spectrometry for Conoco (now ConocoPhillips). Joe and Laura have two children: Brent, 22, at Oklahoma State University majoring in Finance; and Tara, 19, at Hendrix College (yes, ironically she is in Conway) majoring in English/Anthropology.

Charles Stotts

Charles worked in Huntsville, AL for a number of years for a company that manufactured solid rocket fuels. He is currently employed in a more mundane plant in Fort Smith.

Richard Walser

Richard taught in the public schools for several years and has been active in the Arkansas National Guard. Most recently he is the manager of Ricks Armory in Little Rock.

1980

Slaton Fry

After graduating from UCA in 1980, I spent a short time with Phillips Petroleum and then returned to graduate school at the University of Arkansas and completed a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry under Dr. Norbert Pienta in 1985. I then worked for Halliburton Services and finally Eastman Chemical in Batesville, AR for 16 years before leaving to work for UAMS Arkansas BioVentures biotechnology incubator and to return to school for an MBA at UALR. I now work for Safe Foods Corporation as the Director of Operations. I married Diann Curiel in 1984 and we have two kids, Evan (13) and Elise (8). We live in Little Rock.

David Purkiss

David went to graduate school at Texas Tech University and is currently the instrumentation specialist in the Chemistry Department there. His primary responsibility is the operation and upkeep on NMR spectrometers used in the department.

Randy Solomon

Randy received his masters degree from UALR. He currently works in environmental chemistry in the Dallas, TX area where he lives with his wife and three sons.

Randy Tucker

Randal (Randy) Tucker, graduated in 1980 and then worked for Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, OK for a short while before returning to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1982 in order to pursue a PhD in Chemistry. He did his research on snake venom components and the venom of the Brown Recluse spider. He received his PhD in Chemistry with specialization in Biochemistry and then went to the LSU Eye Center in New Orleans for postdoctoral training. He returned to Arkansas where he worked for the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas State Crime Lab as a mass spectroscopists in the areas of environmental chemistry and toxicology. He helped to establish the first forensic DNA laboratory while at the Arkansas State Crime Lab after receiving training at Life Codes in Stamford, Connecticut, Applied Biosystems in San Franscisco, and Promega, in Madison, Wisconsin. He now works for the US Food and Drug Administration in Jefferson Arkansas where he uses both high and low resolution mass spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of ultra trace levels of chlorinated organic toxins in foods. You can contact Randy at randaltucker@gmail.com and viceroy@arkansas.net .

1981

Craig Cummins

Craig received an MD from UAMS and currently practices medicine in Conway.

Teresa Madley

Teresa's e-mail

I am the Chemistry Superintendent over the Chemistry department at Arkansas Nuclear ONe. There are 31 in the department including Supervisors, Specialists and Chemists. I have been at ANO for 24 years. I began work at ANO in 1981 as a Chemist two weeks after graduating from UCA with a B.S. in Chemistry. I have also held the positions of Chemistry Specialist and Site Human Performance Lead at ANO. I have two children, Lauren (age 21) and Justin (age 18). Lauren is a senior at Arkansas Tech University and Justin will be a freshman at ATU in the fall 2005. My daughter is majoring in pre-med and music and my son plans to major in biology.

Dan Meatheny

Dan is currently employed at Entergy, Arkansas Nuclear One.

Ray Schichtl

After graduate school at GIT (UALR) Ray got a job with an electronics manufacturing firm in Maumelle.

Jim Whitaker

Mark Wood

Mark started his career as a research chemist with Phillps Petroleum Company in 1980. He worked in Phillips’ Research and Development Division until 1989 on a variety of technologies from solar cells to chemicals to plastics. In 1990 Mark moved to management and became Global Quality Assurance Manager for Phillip’s Ryton® plastic resin and Operation Director of Plastics Technical Center. In 1995, Mark became the commercial manager for Phillips’ Ethylene Business and participated in the merger of the Chevron and Phillips chemical businesses in 2000. Mark was responsible for $2 billion in annual sales as the Ethylene Director which was about 30% of Chevron Phillips Chemical Companies annual revenue.

Mark left Chevron Phillips Chemical Company in January of 2003 to become Director of Business Development for Old World Industries. Old World is best known for its consumer products such as PEAK® antifreeze, Mr. Clean® Windshield wash & wiper blades, and Splitfire® sparkplugs. He is currently Executive Vice President of a subsidiary, Ventum Energy, which was formed in late 2004 to reduce the exposure of Old World to the volatility of energy costs.

Mark and his wife, Denise, have been married for almost 20 years and have three sons, Stephen (17), Daniel (15), and Philip (13). They live just north of Houston in Spring, TX. The boys keep Denise on the run making sure they get to all their activities and stay up on their school work. The boys enjoy sports and music. Stephen is #1 and Daniel is #8 on the high school golf team and Philip is 1st chair violin in the junior high orchestra. Mark enjoys golfing, hunting and fishing with the family. Mark

You can contact Mark at Mark's e-mail

1982

Ray Black

Ray went to law school and currently practices in Little Rock.

Gary Gibson

Gary worked at the crime lab for a time, then went to pharmacy school.

John Gilliom

After receiving an M.S. in mathematics from Ohio State University John attended seminary and is currently involved in work with his church.

Bob Lashlee

Brad Lemay

Brad went to medical school at UAMS

Danny Reese

Danny completed medical school at UAMS on a Navy scholarship. After several years as a navy physician during which he completed a residency in anesthesiology Danny joined the faculty at the University of Kentucky medical school where he served as Chief of Staff. He is currently employed full-time at the VA Hospital in Lexington.

You can contact Danny at Danny's e-mail

1983

Cathy Bates

Cathy completed a degree program in Physical Therapy and she currently resides in Conway.

Gary Skiles

Gary did graduated work in chemistry at the University of Dallas and currently works in industry in the Dallas area.

Lessie Spurrier

Lessie is an owner of a private testing laboratory in Little Rock.

Tim Tipton

Michael Woods

Michael is currently a physician specializing in obstetrics in Conway.

1984

Randall Black

Randall graduated first in his medical school class and currently practices medicine in northwest Arkansas.

Clark Davis

I graduated with a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from Texas A&M in 1989 working under Kenn Harding. My employment history has included stints with Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Union Carbide and I am now working for Dow Chemical following the Union Carbide-Dow merger. My wife Karen and I recently relocated to the San Francisco area when I took a position with Dow Agrosciences in their Pittsburg California facility.

Larry Eoff

Larry completed his Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry at the University of Arkansas under Dr. Norbert Pienta in 1989. He has been employed by Halliburton Energy Services in Duncan, OK for 15 years (with two years in Houston with a chemical company from 1994-96). “Work at Halliburton has been very good and has allowed me travel all over the world, which I have really enjoyed.” Larry and his wife, Jessica, two sons, Jeremy (15) and Jared (12). He stays active, playing softball in the summers and more recently playing golf, which Jessica has taken up also. . You can contact Larry at Larry’s e-mail

Michael Joaquin Jessup

Joaquin went to med school at UAMS and then did a residency in Wichita, Kansas. He is currently practicing ob-gyn in Cape Girardeau, MO

Deanna King Hopson

Deanna received her M.D. degree from UAMS in 1988 and completed residency in Family Medicine at the AHEC Fort Smith Residency Program. She worked in the ER of Howard Memorial Hospital at Nashville, AR and later at a rural clinic in Stephens, AR . She was a Faculty Physician at the AHEC South Arkansas Family Medicine Residency Program for 7 years in El Dorado, AR. Since December 2004, she has been serving uninsured patients at the Interfaith Clinic in El Dorado. Deanna and her husband, Rodney, have four children, Audra Claire (16), Benjamin (13), Nicole (10), and Hannah (9).You can contact Deanna at Deanna’s e-mail

Luke Setzler

Luke lives in Conway and is an air traffic controller at the Little Rock Airport.

Bill Williams

Bill attended medical school at the University of Mississippi from 1985-'89. Following graduation, He did an Ob-Gyn residency at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa from 1989-'93. He moved to Searcy in July 1993 and continues his practice there.

Bill married Ruth Taylor, a 1985 graduate from the UCA Dept. of Physicial Therapy. Bill and Ruth have five children: Benjamin, Meredith, Stephanie, Emma, and Daniel.

You can contact Bill at Bill’s e-mail

1985

Tom Anderson

Hoang Bui

Hoang attended medical school at UAMS.

Laura Donaldson

Laura taught in the Mayflower and Conway public schools. She and her family currently live in Alaska.

Kelli Rutledge

Kelli accepted a position in sales with Waters Associates.

Gary Sherwood

Gary currently practices emergency medicine at White County Hospital in Searcy.

Steve Wampler

Steve attended medical school at UAMS.

1986

Troy Harpole

Brooks Lawrence

Brooks received his M.D. degree from UAMS in 1990 and did a residency in family practice at the US Air Force Regional Hospital at Eglin AFB in Florida. After serving in the US Air Force from 1990 to 96 he returned to Conway where he currently has a private practice as a family physician.

He is married to his high school sweetheart, Pam Berry, and they have four children: Benjamin, Caleb, Anna, and Elizabeth.

Brooks' e-mail

Joe Massey

Joe's e-mail

Joe is married to Karen Buddenberg (B.S. ’86). He received M.S.and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Arkansas in agronomy, specializing in the environmental chemistry of pesticides. From 1995 to 2000, He worked as a research chemist at DuPont Crop Protection in Wilmington, DE. and is currently an associate professor at Mississippi State University (20% teaching, 80% research). He teaches graduate-level courses in Herbicide Physiology & Biochemistry and the Environmental Fate of Herbicides and serve as the program coordinator for MSU’s Environmental Science program which involves teaching Introduction to Environmental Science to undergraduates. His research investigates the environmental fates of pesticides, emphasizing water-quality issues. Karen works as a CPA at a local hospital.

Contact Information

Home Phone: 662-338-9240

Work Phone: 662-325-4725

Email: jmassey@pss.msstate.edu

Home Address: PO 1002; Mississippi State, MS 39762

Mike Miller

Jerry Palmer

Jerry received an M.S. in analytical chemistry from the University of Alabama and is currently employed at Arkansas Eastman in Batesville.

Maria Skinner

Lisa Sparkman

1987

Marc Anderson

Marc is currently a pharmacist for Kroger in Conway

Gary Fuller

Steve McKim

Steve completed his Ph.D. degree in chemistry at the University of Kansas and currently is on the faculty at Central State University in Oklahoma.

Alao Serifat

1988

Cindy Gierach

Cindy attended medical school at UAMS.

Terri Claiborne

Mike Stage

Donna Short

Donna has a position in pharmaceutical sales in Memphis.

Mona Churchwell

Mona went to work for NCTR in Pine Bluff.

1989

Anders Amelin

Brian Clark

Brian completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Tennessee.

Sandra Coles

Sandra began her career in the QA lab of ConAgra Frozen Foods in Batesville. She was responsible for nutritional testing of finished food products and ingredients as well as quality control testing for the on-site chicken feed mill. She was promoted to Senior Chemist and made was responsible for coordinating the pesticide testing and wastewater analysis programs in the lab. In 2001, Sandra left ConAgra and went to work for Entergy, Incorporated as the Chemistry Supervisor at the Independence Plant in Newark, Arkansas. In May of 2005, Sandra moved to The Woodlands, Texas to work in the Environmental Services group for Entergy Fossil. In her role there, she serves as the Federal Issues Lead for Water Media and is the Water Lead for Texas Environmental Support. Her job includes working with the Water Leads from Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana Environmental Support offices to coordinate NPDES permitting and compliance and Toxic Release Inventory reporting for 29 fossil fueled power plants and 2 hydroelectric dams.

Sandra can be contacted at Sandra's e-mail

Tony Jones

Louis Poposki

Louis is employed by the Arkansas State Department of Health.

Brad Griffin

Shelly Catlett Bradley

Shelly's e-mail

Shelly worked at UCA as manager of the chemistry storeroom for several years. She is currently director of laboratories at Hendrix.

1990

Terry Lipsmeyer

Brenda Cook

Kathy Wilson

Lora Burge

Jeffrey Howard

Jeffrey attended medical school at UAMS.

Cindy Willingham

Cindy attended medical school at UAMS.

1992

Russell Everett

After completing his Ph.D. degree at the University of Arkansas in 1996 Russell held postdoctoral research positions at the University of Hawaii (1996-1998) and the University of Kansas (1998-2000). He then joined Cedra, a pharmaceutical contract research organization based in Austin, TX. In 2004 he moved back home to Greenbrier and is now president of his own CRO business, BerTek, Inc.

Russell and his wife, Timsey, have three children: Kassidy, Brandy and Wesley.

Jill Jennings

Jill completed a degree in Veterinary Medicine at Oklahoma State University. She currently teaches in the Marshall Public Schools.

Brett Krepps

Brett received an M.S. in chemical engineering in 1994. Two years later he applied to medical school and received his M.D. from UAMS in 2000. He completed a residency in orthopedic medicine at the University of Kansas Medical School in 2005 and is currently a staff surgeon at the Community Hospital in Anderson, Indiana. He expects to return to Little Rock in the near future and open a private practice. Brett and his wife, Joanne, have one son, Evan, and another on the way. You can contact Brett at Brett’s e-mail

Susan Kuzma Kelso

After graduating in May 1992, Susan joined Eastman Kodak Co. in clinical chemistry & sales. She was a diagnostic & laboratory sales representative and sold blood chemistry analyzers to veterinarians, physicians and small hospitals. In August 1994, She married and relocated to NW Arkansas where she worked for the City of Bentonville Wastewater Treatment Plant as laboratory manager before going to Beaver Water District as a laboratory technician. She has since joined the "Wal*Mart Community". Her employer, Design Accents, is a supplier to WalMart. Her job duties have included domestic and import experience, sales & analysis, category management, and brand and product development for our wide assortment of products. She and her husband, Jerry, have two sons, ages 7 & 3 and have just recently moved Sherwood to be closer to family and friends. You can contact Susan at Susan’s e-mail

Roger Smithson

Upon graduation from UCA Roger took a position with Buckman Laboratories. Buckman Laboratories is a specialty chemical company based out of Memphis, TN with a focus in the pulp and paper industry. His primary chemical focus has been microbiocides and polymers that aid in the papermaking process. His first position in Buckman was as a district sales representative. He is currently the southern sales director over a sales force of 60 people.

Roger has been married to his wife, Michelle, for 10 years and they live in Greenbrier with their two daughters (Shali - age 6, and Sofie - age 5 months).

You can contact Roger at Roger’s e-mail

1993

Jonathan Paladino

Jonathan completed a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Missouri at Rolla. He then attended medical school at UAMS.

Justin Dodds

1994

Chris Abrams

Marcus Babbs

Cheryl Fossler

Steve Puyear

Crissy Rhodes

Crissy completed an MS in chemistry at Duke.

Craig Sharp

Tiffny Stewart

Tiffny received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from U.C.A. in 2003 and began working for Conway Therapy Services. She has plans to specialize in Women's Health Physical Therapy. She and her husband, Brian, have two children, Sydney Alena and Zachary Aaron. Brian and Tiffny live in Oxford, Mississippi where Brian works as a pharmaceutical sales rep for UCB Pharma and she currently stays at home with the children. They are assisting in the formation of Grace Bible Church of Oxford. You can contact Tiffny at Tiffny’s e-mail

Becky Weston Edwards

Becky's e-mail

Becky received a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi in February of 1998 and began work at Eastman Chemical Company, Arkansas site, as an analytical chemist in March 1998 where she is still employed. Becky is married to Matthew Edwards and they have two children: Wendell Adam (July, 1999) and Weston Andrew (April 2004).

At work, I am currently responsible for many of the chromatographic techniques in the analytical lab. Since I have been with Eastman, I have supervised the liquid chromatography lab, but in the last year, I have also gained responsibility for the ion chromatographs, supercritical fluid chromatographs, and the gel permeation chromatographs.

Matt and I have a house on my family's farm in Izard County. Between church, community and farm activities, we stay very busy! At church I play the piano and lead the choir, and Matt teaches Sunday School and serves as a deacon. Matt runs the Mt. Pleasant summer baseball/softball program in addition to coaching two baseball teams. Wendell plays t-ball and soccer, and Weston thinks he should be able to play too. I spend most of my time at the games keeping him off the field! We have also ventured into the cattle business so we get to "rodeo" every now and then when it's time to work the cattle.

Larry Mathys

Sam Mackintosh

Teddy Townsend

Teddy is currently the Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator for Bryce Corporation in Searcy, Arkansas. His work involves maintaining compliance with various EPA, DOT and OSHA regulations, Radiation Safety, Food Safety and Security. He is married to Linda (Johnston) Townsend, who graduated from UCA in 1997 and teaches Elementary Music at Pangburn Public Schools.

Teddy's email:

1995

Derek Boahene

Derek graduated first in his class in medicine at Meharry in Nashville, TN. Following that he did a a 5 -year surgical residency in otolaryngology head and neck surgery followed by fellowship training in Facial plastic and recostructive surgery which covers cosmetic surgery of the face as well as reconstruction of congenital and acquired defects in the head and neck region. Some of the surgeries he performs include repair of cleft lip and palate, distraction osteogenesis (growing new bone by distraction) minimally invasive appraoches to removing tumors of the anterior base of the brain, microvascular tissue transfer (transfering tissue from one part of the body to another with suturing of hair-thin blood vessels and nerves), cosmetic surgery of the aging face etc. His family has grown to 5..his wife Ruth, a daughter and 2 twin boys. He just joined Johns Hopkins Univeristy Hospital as an assistant professor. "Besides my clinical practice, I am active in teaching medical students, residents and Fellows the art and science of facial plastic and reconstructiove surgery. I am also actively involved in tissue engineering research. I recently won the top honors in facial plastic surgery in the country for attaining the highest score in our specialty board exam."
Current contact information at Johns Hopkins is: email: dboahen1@jhmi.edu
sec. 410 502 2145.

Jody Buckholtz

Jody did graduate work at UALR and is currently on the faculty at Northeast Oklahoma in Talequah.

Darrin Gainer

Darrin currently teaches chemistry at Greenbriar High School. He has done graduate work in chemistry at UALR.

Blane Graves

Trey Heath

Trey went to graduate school at the University of Illinois where he graduated with an M.S. Degree in chemistry. He is currently working in the St. Louis area.

Holly Jennings

Larry Mathys

Tom Noor

Cheryl Redden

Jim Sanders

Brian Taylor

Brian completed a PhD from the University of Tennesse in computational/physical chemistry in 2000. While completing his dissertation, he gained teaching experience at Maryville College. His currently a tenured Associate Professor of Chemistry at The University of Texas at Tyler teaching General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry and maintaining a research group involving undergraduate students. (http://chemistry.uttyler.edu) He and his wife who he met at UCA have two boys ages 3 1/2 and 6 months. You can contact Brian at Brian’s e-mail

1996

Shandy Campbell

Bobby Brock

Chris Dietrich

Chris graduated from Southern College of Optometry in May of 2001. After briefly practicing in Conway he purchased a private practice in Mtn.View, AR and has been in solo private practice since. His office is on the courthouse square in Mtn. Chris and his wife, Kalah, have two children, Eli Gibson and Mabry Grace. You can contact Chris at Chris’s e-mail

Cindy Hopp

Alex Lovelace-Chandler

Alex completed an MS in Chemistry at the University of Missouri - Columbia and is pursuing a doctorate in education there.

Patrick Rainey

Patrick completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at Texas A & M. He is currently employed with a laboratory in North Carolina.

Philip Rice

Philip is employed as a chemist by Georgia Pacific Resins in Crossett, AR.

Philip Shewmaker

Kevin Williams

Kevin completed a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas and is currently employed by Tokusen in Conway."

Neal Yowell

Neal received an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Colorado. He has been employed as an environmental chemist for Colorado Springs Utilities since 1997. He works in the inorganic section and has completed method development for low level mercury detection using cold-vapor atomic fluorescence. He has two beautiful daughters, Katarina and Isabella. You can contact Neal at Neal’s e-mail

1997

Bobby Brock

Rusty Cutts

Rusty received an M.A. in inorganic/polymer chemistry in 2000 from the University of Virginia. He began work with Ana-Lab Corp, an environmental testing company, in Kilgore, TX doing pH/conductivity measurement, and similar tests; what most environmental labs call "classical chemistry". In 2001, while still at Ana-Lab, he moved to the metals analysis group where he analyzed water and soil samples that had been digested with acids and heat. The digested samples were usually analyzed for mineral and/or heavy metal content using ICP-AES and ICP-MS. In 2003 he became Special Projects/Classical Chemistry Supervisor at Ana-Lab. This job involved assisting lab technicians with problem solving and training new techs and examining methods in the literature and converting them to laboratory SOPs. In addition he helped customers develop new methods to suit their needs or to modify existing methods in the literature. In 2006 moved to Siemens Corporation in Bartlesville OK. Siemens manufactures process gas chromatographs in Bartlesville and he currently works in the methods development group determining what types of columns or applications will meet customer needs. Rusty met his wife, Heather, (UCA Biology) in an organic chemistry lab. They have one son, Charlie. You can contact Rusty at Rusty’s e-mail

Sheri Dobbs

Sheri went to medical school at UAMS. She is currently working as a physician in Alabama and is expecting her first child.

Ann Gains

Lea Horton

Lea completed an M.S. degree at Emory University. She is currently teaching in the Biology Department at UCA.

Chris Larson

Chris worked with Young Life after graduation and then went to medical school at UAMS.

Jason Skinner

Jason has completed his medical training at UAMS and is now employed as an ER physician at Conway Regional Hospital.

1998

Ronnie Hefley

Ronnie completed an MS in Chemistry at Youngstown State University.

Lori Stacks

Theodore Couch

Suat-Nee Tan

Suat-Nee returned to China where she was employed as a chemist. She returned to school there and completed an MBA degree.

Donnie Golden

Donnie enrolled in culinary school in Charlotte, North Carolina. He married Missy Snodgrass. They are currently at California State University, Fresno where Donnie is employed by the University.

Greg Taylor

Eddie Spicer

Michael Julian

Michael went to graduate school at Texas A&M

Missy Snodgrass

Missy married another 1998 alum, Donnie Golden, that same year. She completed her Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry under Marcetta Darensbourg at Texas A&M. She spent two years working with Prof. Bernadette Donovan-Merkert at UNC Charlotte, as an NSF-funded teaching/postdoctoral appointment. In Fall 2006 she began a position as tenured-track assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at California State University, Fresno. You can contact Missy at Missy's e-mail

1999

Amy Lasater

Tony Luistro

Tony went to medical school at UAMS

William Parsons

I've been working at the Arkansas Regional Laboratory (on the NCTR campus) for seven years now. I currently work in food sanitation and decomposition, performing fluorometric analysis for histamine. My wife and I are currently living in North Little Rock.

Brittnaie Bell

Brittnaie is currently a graduate student in chemistry at the University of South Carolina. She previously taught high school chemistry in Dallas.

Aaron Kuperman

Aaron received his M.D. from UAMS and then completed a residency in internal medicine. He is currently practicing in Pine Bluff.

Beverly Boyer

2000

Charity Billingsley

Charity is in graduate school in chemistry at the University of South Carolina. She is defending her thesis on Nov. 17, 2005 and expects to graduate on Dec. 12.

Michael Johnson

Michael is teaching high school chemistry in the Little Rock area.

Scott Miller

Scott is working on a Ph.D. in boichemistry at the University of Texas - Austin.

Andrea Phelps Hamilton

After graduating from UCA I started the chemistry graduate program at Texas A&M in July 2001 under the direction of Dr. Donald J. Darensbourg. I’ve been studying the copolymerization of epoxides and CO2 to produce polycarbonates and the copolymerization of aziridines and CO to produce poly-b-peptides. The work involves organometallic synthesis of metal-based catalysts and kinetic and mechanistic studies utilizing in situ ReactIR.

I graduated in August 2005, lined up a job with BASF in their PDP program. The PDP program involves working at two different plant sites for nine months apiece, and after this time getting a permanent position. As of now, I don’t know where my first rotation will be located, but I think I’ll probably end up in Michigan or North Carolina.

Other big news is that I recently got engaged on New Year’s day to Patrick Hamilton, who is also in the chemistry department at Texas A&M. We are getting married on October 15th, 2005 in Conway, AR at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Andrea is currently with BASF in Freeport, Texas.

Taimur Shaikh

Taimur's e-mail

After I graduated from UCA, I got married to Marcy Major, spent a year at the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health, and continued working with YoungLife. I was employed at CTEH as an analytical chemist but I also worked on GIS projects and emergency response. I then moved to Lexington, KY in July of 2001 to work on my Ph.D. in main group chemistry with Dr. David Atwood at the University of Kentucky. My primary focus has been heavier group 15 chemistry with principle focus on the synthesis of arsenic dithiolate systems with a perview towards biological mimics and future drug use. I hope to defend in August or September of 2006. My wife and I have a son and I am still involved with YoungLife.

2001

Micah Abrams

Micah received his Ph.D. dissertation from the Georgia Institute of Technology and did postdoctoral work with Dr. T. Daniel Crawford at Virginia Tech. He joined the UCA chemistry faculty as a theoretical chemist beginning in the fall, 2006.

Nick Alsbrook

Michael Arvin

Michael is currently a graduate student at the University of Arizona

Ryan Dossey

Ryan completed a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at the University of Arkansas and is currently employed by Rineco Chemical Industries in Haskell, Arkansas.

Kim Flora

Jody May

Jody's e-mail

After graduating from UCA with my chemistry BS (December 2000), I took a brief internship at Tokusen USA in Conway, AR for the spring semester. Summer of 2001, I went down to College Station, TX and joined the research group of Dr. David Russell at Texas A&M University, as a graduate student in analytical chemistry. I am now entering my 5th year, finishing up my work in the field of biological mass spectrometry, which keeps me busy for the most part. I always loved to tinker, and I get plenty of opportunities to do so in grad school, where so far i've worked on six different analytical instruments, two I've built from the ground up, and at least two more are in the works. If that's not enough, I take up machining and small electronics as a hobby on the side, and also photography, graphic design, and furniture restoration, when time permits. Right now, I'm enjoying grad school, and while I have no definite plans on what I will do after I finish my PhD, whatever it is will no doubt be fun. I would, however, like to continue to be in the laboratory, and to build, which leaves many options afforded to me. Academics is certainly one of these options.

My research group's website is overdue for an update (and of course, I am the one to do it).

Brendan McAuley

Brendan is completing his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Missouri - Rolla.

Robert Pemberton

Michelle Settle

Michelle has completed the coursework for a Ph.D. in pharmacology at UT-Memphis. She will be doing an internship in Knoxville.

McLane Simpson

McLane’s e-mail

Lisa Sullinger

Brandi Thompson

2002

Raymond Dinnan

Since working at the Arkansas State Department of Health, R-2 is now with the Texas Department of State Health Services. He is also currently enrolled in a masters program in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. He is accomplishing all of this in spite of suffering from keratoconus which has dramatically affected his vision to the point that he was recently declared legally blind.

Amy Dixon

Gary Dobbs

Gary is a graduate student at Georgia Tech University. Gary recently gave a seminar at UCA. His work at Georgia Tech has been supported by a natural gas hydrates consortium. He has designed and build an apparatus to use IR spectroscopy to study these natural gas hydrates on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

Vincent Dunlap

Vincent is a graduate student at the University of Rochester.

Michelle McGowan

Jeremy Moix

Jeremy is a graduate student at Georgia Tech University.

David Nutt

David graduated with a Master's Degree in College Student Personnel Administration from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, MO and has been employed for the past two years by Arizona State University.

Gary Myrick

Krista Reynolds

James Rucker

James is enrolled in the PhD program in chemistry at Lousiana State University.

Shane Sparks

Shane is enrolled in medical school at UAMS.

David St. John

In 2005 I joined Labcorp in their Occupational Testing Section. We perform testing of Drugs of abuse for the DOT and other contracts. I work in the confirmation lab as a GC/MS Analyst, However my main duty is maintaining 18 instruments with ages ranging form the early 80's to this year's new model. Our sample volume has more than doubled in the last year and I have been asked to assist in designing the confirmation lab at our new site in Southaven MS.

Jason Thessing

Jason expects to complete his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in the spring of 2007.
"I am currently working for a materials chemist that specializes in semiconductor nanocrystal synthesis. My current research efforts are mostly focused on crystallization theory. I am working on improving the gibbs thompson equation that describes Ostwald Ripening. My research has led to the development of a variation of the gibbs thompson equation that takes into account crystal concentration and explains nearest neighbor effects (diffusion sphere). The major selling point of my research is that we are able to probe the formation and dissolution of crystals in the ultra small size range (i.e. 1-5nm)".
Jason plans to obtain a position in industry upon graduation. He hopes to work in the area of nanotechnology.

Nathan Twaddle

Nathan is a bioanalytical chemist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's National Center for Toxicological Research located in Jefferson, AR. He received a full-time position with the NCTR in March 2002 (after an internship with them beginning February 2000). His primary duties are to perform method development, sample preparation, and sample analysis using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. His laboratory works primarily small molecules and pharmaceutical drugs and other genetic and developmental toxicants.

2003

Lindsay Lewis

Carson (Alex) McDonald

After working for his family in the rental property business in Dallas for 3 years, Alex moved back to Central Arkansas in June 2006. He took a job at the L'Oreal plant in North Little Rock as an Analytical Chemist. In December, 2006 he moved to the Lipsticks & Nail Enamel Division and took the position of Quality Assurance Technologist. In this role, he handles final release of finshed goods, oversees all component testing, and acts as the liason between the FDA and the production division.

Candice Means

Candice is enrolled in pharmacy school at UAMS.

2004

Devin Brannon

Daniel Edwards

Stacey Lelievre

Warren Lieblong

Pamela Lockyer

Pamela is employed in a laboratory at UAMS.

Julie Maris

Jeanette Morin

Jeanette and her four children moved to northern Virginia. She is currently teaching junior high science at St. Ambrose Catholic School there. She plans to take the MCAT in August, 2006 with plans to attend medical school beginning Fall, 2007.

Kristin Parkhill

Kristin is a graduate student in chemistry at Texas A&M University.

Charity Washam

Charity is currently enrolled in the bioinformatics MS/PhD program at UAMS/UALR

Misty Williams

Misty is currently enrolled in medical school at UAMS.

2005

Josh Brown

Josh is attending graduate school at the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis.

Erin Beth Davis

Erin Beth is attending pharmacy school at UAMS.

Melissa Choate

Melissa works as an Analytical Chemist at the L'Oreal (Maybelline) manufacturing plant in North Little Rock. Her lab uses HPLC, UV-VIS, and AA (Atomic Absorption) to test liquid, powder, and solid make-up for the amount of preservatives and OTC products.

Blake Richardson

Blake is attending pharmacy school at UAMS.

Amber Rochelle

Ryan Thurman

Ryan is employed at the Arkansas State Crime Lab.

Regan West

Regan is employed at the Arkansas State Crime Lab where she says "I work in the drug section at the crime lab. We analyze evidence for controlled substances. The main ones are marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine, plus several kinds of abused prescription drugs. About 60% of our time is spent doing paperwork, sampling the evidence, and taking notes. To do the analysis, we run the samples on GC-MS and use TLC as a confirmatory test. We use IR mainly to tell cocaine HCl from its base form, because the legal charge is different for the different forms. Most of the time it's fairly routine, but every once in a while we get weird stuff."

Cullen Matthews

Cullen graduated with honors in chemistry in December, 2005. His thesis was based on three years of research that he did with Dr. Bill Taylor. Cullen will now enter the Navy Nuclear Submarine program in Charleston, SC.

2006

Brandon Ayers

Brandon is enrolled in the PhD program in chemistry at the University of Arkansas

Andres Chang

Andres is enrolled in the MD/PhD program at the University of Kentucky. He is very impressed with the University and the city of Lexington. He can be contacted at andreschang06@hotmail.com

Garren Holman

Garen enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin, where is am working on a PhD in organic chemisty. His research work under Dr. Brent L. Iverson is focused on DNA intercalators. Upon completion of his Ph.D. he plans to find a postdoctoral research program and then seek an academic position.

Elizabeth (Blake) Robinson

Blake is working in an orthodontics office in San Antonio, TX and is in the process of applying to dental school.

Jeff Shearer

Jeff well begin work on his PhD in Chemistry at Colorado State University in the Fall, 2007. During his year off from school he is managing a photography studio and teaching photography classes. His photography website, http://www.naturewalkphoto.com, is set to debute in August, 2006

Clint Smith

Clint is currently enrolled in a PhD program in biochemistry in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. You can contact Clint at Clint's e-mail