Rate My Professor Roger Harrison

Roger G. Harrison is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Brigham Young University, specializing in inorganic chemistry with research intersecting engineering disciplines such as materials science. He earned a BS from Utah State University in 1986, a PhD from the University of Utah, and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Minnesota before joining the BYU faculty. Harrison teaches general and inorganic chemistry courses and has been promoted to full professor. He currently serves as Associate Chair in the department. His academic interests encompass supramolecular chemistry, the synthesis and characterization of macrocycles for host-guest interactions, molecular recognition for separations chemistry and catalysis, anion and metal ion sensors, ion chromatography separations, and nanomaterial synthesis including ZnO nanoparticles and nanostructures with semiconductor and energy transfer properties.

Harrison contributes to the field as Secretary of the International Scientific Committee for the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry, having organized the 2024 conference at BYU. He received the Distinguished Citizenship Award in 2015 and the Roland K. Robins Citizenship Award in 2022 for exceptional service to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Key publications include "Fe(TPA)-catalyzed alkane hydroxylation. Metal-based oxidation vs radical chain autoxidation" (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1996), "A metal-assembled, pH-dependent, resorcinarene-based cage molecule" (Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1998), "A single molecule that acts as a fluorescence sensor for zinc and cadmium and a colorimetric sensor for cobalt" (Dalton Transactions, 2013), "Structure, optical properties and synthesis of Co-doped ZnO superstructures" (Applied Nanoscience, 2013), and "Zinc sensors with lower binding affinities for cellular imaging" (Dalton Transactions, 2013). His research advances sensor technologies for detecting environmental contaminants and supports applications in biomedical and materials engineering contexts.