KAW
Kraig Wheeler came to Whitworth University in July of 2017 from Eastern Illinois University where he was a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry. Prior to that time he was on the faculty at Delaware State University for twelve years. His research interests include the study of supramolecular assemblies, molecular recognition processes, predicting the organization of electrostatic contacts in competitive crystal environments, and X-ray crystallography. The majority of his recent work has focused on Quasiracemic Materials and Enantiocontrolled Solid-State Reactions with applications that span molecular shape controlled supramolecular motifs to highly selective chemical transformations. He attended the University of Minnesota (1983-1987) as an undergraduate student where he was first encouraged and inspired to conduct research in solid-state organic chemistry by the late Margaret C. Etter. He received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1992 with Bruce M. Foxman investigating solid phase reactivity of metal carboxylates. Prior to starting his independent academic career, he carried out postdoctoral work with Raymond E. Davis and James K. Whitesell (1992-1993) at the University of Texas Austin.
One of his
passions includes helping students experience the
joys of organic chemistry – both in teaching and
research. Seeing students have “light bulb”
experiences, taking part in weighty classroom
discussions, and seeing them move on to productive
careers in science keeps him motivated to stay a
few steps ahead of his students. He teaches a
collection of organic focused chemistry courses at
Whitworth.