Rate My Professor Amanda Harper-Leatherman

Amanda S. Harper-Leatherman is Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Fairfield University in the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences. She also serves as Associate Director of the Honors Program. Harper-Leatherman earned her bachelor's degree in Chemistry from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, followed by a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After completing a postdoctoral position at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, she joined the Fairfield University faculty in 2006 as an assistant professor. She was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 2013 and advanced to full professor. Her career emphasizes undergraduate research mentorship, interdisciplinary teaching, and advancing STEM education.

Harper-Leatherman's research interests include enzyme stabilization and immobilization, biomolecular encapsulation in nanostructured materials, and innovative pedagogy in chemistry education. Key publications feature her chapter "Cytochrome c Stabilization and Immobilization in Aerogels" in Enzyme Stabilization and Immobilization: Methods and Protocols (2011, co-authored with Jean M. Wallace and Debra R. Rolison), which explores cytochrome c retention of bioactivity in silica aerogels. She published "Encapsulating Cytochrome c in Silica Aerogel Nanoarchitectures without Metal Nanoparticles while Retaining Gas-Phase Bioactivity" (2016, Journal of Visualized Experiments, with students E. R. Pacer and N. D. Kosciuszek). In education-focused work, she authored "Introduction to Teaching Chemistry with Forensic Science" (2019) and contributed to "Teaching Chemistry with Forensic Science." Other notable papers include "A Cloud-Based Scavenger Hunt: Orienting Undergraduates to ACS National Meetings" (2016, Journal of Chemical Education, with colleagues) and "BASE (Broadening Access to Science Education): A Research and Mentoring Focused Summer STEM Camp Serving Underrepresented High School Girls" (2017, Journal of STEM Education, with S. A. Phelan and S. M. Harding). She has mentored students presenting at national conferences like the American Chemical Society meetings and supported projects on peptide electronics for biosensors and nanoparticle synthesis. Additionally, her research extends to antimicrobial activity in oyster pallial cavity fluids (2014, Journal of Shellfish Research). Through these contributions, Harper-Leatherman impacts the field by fostering hands-on research, diversity in STEM, and practical applications of analytical chemistry.