Tim Humphry

Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
Truman State University
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 785-4606
(660) 785-4045 (fax)
humphry@truman.edu

Education

• B.S., Southern Oregon University
• Ph.D.,Utah State University
• Postdoc, North Carolina State University

Courses Taught

• Chemistry for Contemporary Living
• Chemical Principles I
• Chemical Principles II

Education and Teaching

I received my BS in Chemistry from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon.  After a year of working outside academia, I attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah and received my PhD in bioinorganic chemistry in 2006.  I was then appointed to a postdoctoral position in mechanistic organometallic chemistry at North Carolina State. In the fall of 2008, I  began teaching at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.  I taught at Gonzaga until June 2011, at which time I moved to Kirksville, to teach at Truman State University. 

Undergraduate Research

While teaching at Gonzaga (2008, 2009, and  2010), I spent my summer holidays as a visiting research associate working with Derek Woollins at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland.  That is where I started my own research program with the intention of working with undergrads. I am in the process of creating an entirely new ligand system to chelate metal centers in order to make new metal complexes.  I then intend to  ascertain the  structure and reactivity of the complexes.  At Gonzaga, I managed a small, steady stream of undergraduate researchers during the school year, most trying different pathways to make ligands. 

Some pathways towards new ligands have been fruitful, and some have not, but research is research, so the projects are always moving forward.  I hope to start up a hip and happenin’ undergraduate research lab here at Truman to follow on the good work done by previous undergrads.

Outside of Work

I play a lot of volleyball wherever I go.  I like two-man sand volleyball the best, but indoor sixes can be fun too.  I enjoy working on cars (including my own!), and I am a determined amateur woodworker when I can find the time and the saws needed to build things.  I go backpacking once a year, usually with my dad, for about a week.  That’s always enjoyable, but I am by no means addicted to hiking!