Weatherman Becomes Head of Chemistry & Biochemistry Department
Wednesday, September 02, 2020
Veteran chemistry educator Ross Weatherman has earned recognition for working with students and faculty colleagues on research projects focusing on the role of estrogen in the development and treatment of breast cancer.
Professor of Chemistry Ross V. Weatherman has taken over leadership of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at an important time in the academic area’s proud history. He became head of the department before the start of the 2020-21 school year, replacing Michael R. Mueller, who remains a faculty member.
The department is embarking on plans to transition the institute’s chemistry and biochemistry laboratory and research facilities to a new academic building, scheduled to open for the 2021-22 school year. The $29 million, 70,000-square-foot building on the east side of campus, connecting Moench Hall and Myers Hall, will also provide collaborative workspaces, design studios, flexible classrooms, and faculty innovation spaces.
Weatherman has been a professor in the department since 2009, teaching classes in general chemistry, biochemistry, and organic chemistry. He earned Rose-Hulman’s Board of Trustees Outstanding Scholar Award in 2016 for his research, with several undergraduate students and faculty colleagues, focusing on the role of estrogen in the development and treatment of breast cancer.
His team’s work seeks to improve existing drugs, resulting in better treatments with fewer side effects. Development of synthetic derivatives of tamoxifen, a drug with undesirable side effects, has shown promise in pre-clinical studies.
The value of Weatherman’s research has been recognized with grants totaling $2 million from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Army. He has also developed strong collaborations with the Indiana University School of Medicine and has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed research publications. Weatherman was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.
Weatherman graduated with high academic honors in chemistry from Wabash College and earned his doctoral degree in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin.
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is one of Rose-Hulman’s founding academic programs, with distinguished past and current faculty educating students that have gone on to successful careers in industry, research, and education.
The department is embarking on plans to transition the institute’s chemistry and biochemistry laboratory and research facilities to a new academic building, scheduled to open for the 2021-22 school year. The $29 million, 70,000-square-foot building on the east side of campus, connecting Moench Hall and Myers Hall, will also provide collaborative workspaces, design studios, flexible classrooms, and faculty innovation spaces.
Weatherman has been a professor in the department since 2009, teaching classes in general chemistry, biochemistry, and organic chemistry. He earned Rose-Hulman’s Board of Trustees Outstanding Scholar Award in 2016 for his research, with several undergraduate students and faculty colleagues, focusing on the role of estrogen in the development and treatment of breast cancer.
His team’s work seeks to improve existing drugs, resulting in better treatments with fewer side effects. Development of synthetic derivatives of tamoxifen, a drug with undesirable side effects, has shown promise in pre-clinical studies.
The value of Weatherman’s research has been recognized with grants totaling $2 million from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Army. He has also developed strong collaborations with the Indiana University School of Medicine and has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed research publications. Weatherman was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.
Weatherman graduated with high academic honors in chemistry from Wabash College and earned his doctoral degree in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin.
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is one of Rose-Hulman’s founding academic programs, with distinguished past and current faculty educating students that have gone on to successful careers in industry, research, and education.