Rate My Professor Caroline Pharr

Caroline Pharr is a Professor of Chemistry at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. She joined the faculty in 2011, advanced to associate professor, and was promoted to full professor during the 2023-2024 academic year. Pharr earned her B.S. from Carroll College in 2003 and her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008. Her graduate research with Professor Robert J. McMahon centered on the photochemistry and spectroscopic characterization of thienylcarbenes and diazoethanes. Prior to joining Carroll College, she held a position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania.

In her teaching role at Carroll College, Pharr instructs General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Advanced Organic Chemistry, and the Integrated Laboratory course. Her areas of academic interest are organic chemistry and chemical education. Pharr directs an active undergraduate research laboratory focused on the synthesis and study of carbene intermediates, reactive species essential to metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions that form carbon-carbon bonds in organic synthesis and prevalent in interstellar space. She has mentored numerous undergraduate researchers, several of whom have won external funding and presented their work at national conferences, including American Chemical Society meetings. One notable collaboration was with Myunghoon Kim (class of 2014), who worked on the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel organic molecules with potential applications in emerging technologies.

Caroline Pharr's key publications include "Photochemistry of 1-(2- and 3-Thienyl)diazoethanes: Spectroscopy and Tunneling Reaction of Triplet 1-(3-Thienyl)ethylidene" published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry (2023, with B.J. Esselman and R.J. McMahon) and "Quantifying the Rate Copper Leaches From a Copper Drinking Vessel Into Simulated Beverages Under Conditions of Consumer Use" in the Journal of Environmental Health (2022, with J.G. Rowley and nine undergraduate co-authors). In March 2024, she presented "Synthesis and Study of Carbene Intermediates" at the National American Chemical Society Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Through her teaching excellence, research mentorship, and contributions to the literature, Pharr significantly bolsters the chemistry program and student success at Carroll College.