Biography
Dr. Peter Baran is a professor of inorganic chemistry with interests in synthesis and characterization of transition metal coordination compounds with polydentate aromatic amine N-oxide ligands for catalysis, development of new magnetic materials, and biologically active compounds for medicinal applications. Much of his work contributes to supramolecular chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry. Baran has published over eighty papers, more than a hundred conference abstracts, and one US patent. He has over dozen collaborators in the US and several other countries. His teaching experience includes courses in Inorganic Chemistry, General Chemistry, Chemical Synthesis, Spectroscopy, Wine Chemistry, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Solid State Chemistry, Crystallography, Food Chemistry, and Supramolecular Chemistry. Baran came to Juniata in 2004 after working at several academic positions at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Rio Piedras. He earned his master’s degree in Technical Physical and Analytical Chemistry and a minor degree in Chemistry Secondary Education in 1986 and his PhD degree in Inorganic Chemistry in 1992 from The Slovak Technical University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He started his academic career at his alma mater in 1992 as an assistant professor. He briefly worked in industry before he moved to UPR. He studied internationally in Germany, Greece, and Puerto Rico. He is a recipient of several awards including a silver medal of the Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia).