Biography
John Unger came to the Juniata faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry in 2012 from Pomona College, in Claremont Calif., where he was assistant professor of chemistry. His research interests include organometallic catalysis and synthesis of organic materials. He earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 2000 at Hobart College, in Geneva, N.Y. He went on to earn a doctoral degree in organic chemistry in 2009 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His dissertation research centered on copper-catalyzed asymmetric transformations. After graduating from Hobart, Unger worked in the corporate world from 2000 to 2003 as a chemist for Atofina Chemicals Inc., in King of Prussia, Pa. He worked in the research division of Atoglas Acrylic Polymers and worked on the development and testing of new core-shell modifiers for polymers and copolymers After earning a doctorate, Unger continued his education as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Kohlenforschung, in Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany. His work in Germany from 2009 to 2010 focused on the total synthesis of a complex macrocyclic polyketide. Unger began his academic career at Pomona College, teaching organic chemistry, organic synthesis and overseeing undergraduate research students. In 2006, he received the University of California, Santa Barbara Sam L. Nguyen Fellowship in Organic Chemistry. He also was inducted into the Sigma Xi Society in 2000. He has written articles in a number of scholarly journals, including Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Synlett, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Organic Letters and Canadian Journal of Chemistry.