Dan Wright
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Department: Chemistry
Email: wright@elon.edu
Phone number: (336) 278-5655
Education
1986 BS in Chemistry from Stonehill College, North Easton MA
1990 Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Duke University, Durham NC
Employment History
Associate Professor of Chemisty, Elon University: 1990-present
Instructor of Chemistry, Talent Identification Program, Duke University, Summer 1991
Courses Taught
CHM 101: Basic Concepts in Chemistry
CHM/CHML 111: General Chemistry I/General Chemistry I lab
CHM/CHML 112: General Chemistry II/General Chemistry II lab
CHM/CHML 332: Physical Chemistry I/Physical Chemistry I lab
CHM/CHML 334: Physical Chemistry II/Physical Chemistry II lab
CHM 494: Senior Seminar in Chemistry: Archaeometry: Where Science and Archaeology Meet
SCI 121: Science without Borders
GST 410: Look Who's Coming to Dinner
CHM 179: Superhero Science: Super-fact or Super-fiction?
Leadership Positions
Director of the Honors Program, 1997-2004
Chair, Chemistry Department, 2007-2015
Current Projects
Laboratory Development for future section of Advanced Chemistry Chemistry lab (CHM 4010). Experiments under development include quantitative assessment of calcium in powdered samples (dry milk, baby formula) using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, metal content in breakfast cereals using inductuively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP), and various experiments using a variety of eggs for chemical extraction or phytoremediation.
Analysis of metal in produce samples. This area is multi-faceted. One project is looking at the long term effects of temperature change on the ability of fruits and vegetables to uptake metals from soil. Sampling spans over 10 states on the eastern seaboard and could expand to additional locations. Analyses use both XRF and ICP instrumentation. A second avenue of investigation is looking at the efficacy of using companion cropping to protect certain plants. Companion cropping grows to plants in concert with one another with the hypothesis that the phytoremediator will sacrificially uptake metal to allow a healthier cash crop. The newest avenue of this area is to begin an inventory of how much metal is present in herbs and spices used in native American traditional medicines.
Grants Awarded
“Science without Borders – Interdisciplinary Science”, Project NOVA (NASA), with Agnew, J (PI) and Harris, N. 1997 ($15,000).
“Thinking Like a Scientist: Inquiry-Based Learning in General Chemistry Lab”, Center for the Advancement Of Teaching and Learning, Elon University, 2011 ($6,055).
“First Flight: Writing Excellence Initiative for Chemistry”, WEI Program Grant, Elon University, with Victoria Moore and Paul Weller ($5,000).
Publications
“NMR Chemical Shifts and Intramolecular Van Der Waals Interactions: Carbonyl and Ether Systems”, Chesnut, D.B.; Wright, D.W.; Krizek, B.A. J.Molec.Struc. 1988, 190, 99-111.
“Effects of Torsion on the C-13 Chemical Shift in Ethane”, Chesnut, D.B.; Wright, D.W.; MacPhail, R.A. Chem.Phys.Lett., 1988, 151, 415-416.
“Chemical Shift Bond Derivatives for Molecules Containing First Row Atoms”, Chesnut, D.B.; Wright, D.W., J.Comp.Chem., 1991, 12, 546-559.
“Chemical Shift Derivatives for HSi(O)-X Substituted First Row Hydrides”, Jennings, J.L.; Wright, D.W., Main Group Metal Chemistry, 1994, 17, 387-390.
Grimley, Eugene; Wright, Daniel; Gammon, David, Science without Borders. The International Journal of Science in Society, 2011, 2, 171-179.
Presentations
“NMR Chemical Shifts and Intramolecular Van Der Waals Interactions: Carbonyl and Ether Systems”, Chesnut, D.B.; Wright, D.W.; Krizek, Meeting-in-Miniature, North Carolina Section, American Chemical Society, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC April 1988.
“Chemical Shift Bond Derivatives for Molecules Containing First Row Atoms”, Chesnut, D.B.; Wright, D.W., Sectional Meeting, North Carolina Section, American Chemical Society, Duke University, Durham, NC April 1990.
“Effects of Bondlength Modification on the NMR Chemical Shift”, Chesnut, D.B.; Wright, D.W., Challenges in Computational Chemistry, 4th Annual Sympsium--Poster Section, Sponsored by the North Carolina Section of the American Chemical Society, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, September 13, 1990.
“Chemical Shift Bond Angle Derivatives for Substituted Carbonyl Molecules Containing First Row Atoms”, Wright, D.W.; Fornoff, B.L., 43rd Southeast Regional ACS Meeting, Richmond, VA, November, 1991.
“Chemical Shift Bond Derivatives of Silicon-Containing Compounds”, Surdyk, K.K.; Wright, D.W., 2nd Annual North Carolina Fall Conference on Undergraduate Research, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, November 12-13, 1992.
“Chemical Shift Bond Derivatives of Silicon-Containing Compounds”, Surdyk, K.A.; Holtzapfel, A.;Wright, D.W., Student Undergraduate Research Forum, Elon College, North Carolina, February 19, 1993.
“Chemical Shift Bond Derivatives of Silicon-Containing Compounds”, Surdyk, K.K.; Wright, D.W., 7th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, March 25-27, 1993.
“Chemical Shift Bond Derivatives of Silicon-Containing Compounds”, Surdyk, K.K.; Wright, D.W., published in the Proceedings of the 7th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, September 1993.
“Development of an Interdisciplinary Science Course”, Wright, D.W., Project Kaleidoscope: Faculty for the 21st Centry 1995 National Assembly, Minneapolis, MN, November 3-5, 1995.
“Determination of Chemical Shift Derivatives for a Series of Substituted Pyroles”, Shoemaker, C.N., Draughn, R.L., Wright, D.W.,10th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC, April 18-20, 1996.
“Development of the Mendeleev Periodic Table Simulator”, Wright, D.W., Project Kaleidoscope: Faculty for the 21st Century 1996 National Assembly, Kansas City, MO, October 11-13, 1996.
“SIMULATOR: Development of the Mendeleev Periodic Table”, Wright, D.W., Mitchell, S.B., CHEM ED ’97, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, August, 1997.
“Creating Change in College Science Courses”, Odell, M., Kearney, R., Wright, D. (panel discussion), National Science Teachers Association 46th National Convention, Las Vegas, NV April 16-19, 1998.
“Science Without Borders: An Example of an Effective Course”, Wright, D.W., NASA Opportunities for Visionary Academics, University of New Hampshire, NH, July 8-10, 1998.
“Mendeleev Periodic Table Simulator”, Wright, D.W., Mitchell, S.B., National Science Teachers Association 46th National Convention, Las Vegas, NV April 16-19, 1998; Wright, D.W., North Carolina Science Teachers Association, Greensboro, NC, November 3-6, 1998.
“Wine, Nuts, and Plastics – Making Laboratory Interesting: Project-Based Laboratory Development”, *Koontz, Z., *Scovill, K., Wright, D. W., Prese April 2009.
“Science without Borders”, Grimley, E.B., Wright, D.W., Gammon, D., 2nd International Conference on Science and Society, Carlos III University, Madrid, Spain, November 10-13, 2010.
*Victoria Van Vliet,*Geoffrey Hall, Daniel Wright. Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratory Development” Using Forensics, Photography, and Wine for Project Based Inquiry. Presented at SURF, Elon University, April 2011.
Anthony Pratt, Daniel W. Wright, *Eugene Grimley. Chlorine Dioxide-Phenol Reaction: A Kinetics Laboratory Experiment. Presented at SERMACS, Atlanta, November 2013.
“Developing Writing for Chemists Step One: Building the Foundation”, *Daniel Wright, Sara Triffo, Paul Weller, Victoria Moore., Presented at the International Writing Across of the Curriculum Conference, Minneapolis, MN, June 2014.
Professional Activities
Sigma Xi, National Research Society, 1988 - present
American Chemical Society,1988-1994, 1996-present
Phi Lambda Upsilon, National Honoray Chemical Society, 1989 - present
Service Activities
Director of the Honors Program, 1997-2004
At-large CAS representative of University Curriculum Committee, 2015-present
Task for on the Role of the Department Chair, 2013
Presidential Task for on the Social and Intellectual Climate, 2015
Awards
Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching, Elon College, 1996-97
1996 Outstanding Advisor Certificate of Merit Recipient, National Academic Advising Association
P.M. Gross Fellowship, Duke University, 1988
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Honorable Mention, Duke University, 1990
Stonehill College Honors Scholarship, 1982 - 1986
Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America, 1982