Faculty & Staff

Faculty

Dr. Matthew Crawford, Chair

Associate Professor

Office: 339C Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4940
Email: mjcrawford@frostburg.edu

Research Interests:

• Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis and Analysis Using Natural and Unnatural Amino Acids
• Local Honey Analysis
• Developing Safer Methods to Determine Lead Content in Paint Using Microwave Digestion
• Soil and Water Analysis.

• Additional Information

  Bio

  Dr. Crawford is an FSU alum that rejoined his alma mater in 2011 after earning his Ph. D. at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and is the current chair of the Department of Chemistry & Physics. His primary research interests include organic chemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, as well as chemical education for grades K-12. He was the 2014 recipient of the Maryland Parent Involvement Matters Award. Dr. Crawford is a member and current treasurer of the FSU Phi Kappa Phi (Honor society). He serves as the FSU advisor of the Chemistry Honor Society (Gamma Sigma Epsilon) and Co-Advisor for FSU Pre-Medical Society. In addition, he serves as a member of the FSU Health Professions Advisory Committee that helps to guide/advise students pursuing an advanced degree and career in the medical field.
  
  He and his wife Michelle are proud parents of five children: Charlotte, Preston, Henry, Katie, and Marceline. They are avid Disney fans and enjoy traveling as often as they can. Both Dr. Crawford and his wife successfully completed their first Run Disney Dopey Challenge (5K, 10K, half and full marathons) in 2022 and are training for a second challenge for 2024.
  

  Degrees

  Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University
  B.S., Frostburg State University

Dr. Holly Currie

Associate Professor

Office: 347 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4359
Email: hncurrie@frostburg.edu

Research Interests:

• Detection of pharmaceutical compounds in milk

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D. West Virginia University, 2014
  B.S. California University of Pennsylvania, 2008

Dr. Hang Deng-Luzader

Professor

Office: 245 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4385
Email: hluzader@frostburg.edu

Teaching Interests:

• Quantum physics, modern physics, particle physics. Specific interest and experience in college preparation and secondary school science

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., University of Maryland, college Park
  M.S., Northeastern University
  B.S., Beijing Teachers College

Dr. Katie Gares

Lecturer

Office: 356 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.3020
Email: klgares@frostburg.edu

 

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
  B.S., Frostburg State University

   

Dr. Robert Larivee

Professor

Office: 351A Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4091
Email: rlarivee@frostburg.edu

Research Interests:

• Supercritical carbon dioxide to extract natural gas from Marcellus Shale
• Chemometric analysis of gas chromatography including retention time prediction and trace component elution
• Gold nanoparticles as delivery devices

• Additional Information

  Bio

  Dr. Larivee is a professor of analytical chemistry. He obtained his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Rhode Island College in 1976. He was commission a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1976 and served as an Airborne Ranger in the Infantry until 1981. After working in industry for a few years he continued his education obtaining his graduate degree working under Steve Brown with a specialty in Chemometrics from University of Delaware in 1989. After graduation he obtained a teaching position at Frostburg State University Department of Chemistry. Dr. Larivee’s specialties include environmental chemistry, chemometrics, chemical instrumentation, and chemical education, especially training elementary and middle school teachers in the physical sciences. He is currently the Chair of the Chemistry Department and the Chemical Hygiene Officer.

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., University of Delaware
  B.A., Rhode Island College

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., Guangxi University
  M.S., Guangxi Normal University
  B.S., Guangxi Normal University

   

Dr. Eric Moore

Professor

Office: 238 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4500
Email: ejmoore@frostburg.edu

Teaching Interests:

• Introductory physics, senior research and seminar

Research Interests:

• Physics education, materials characterization and performance

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  M.S., University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  B.S., Frostburg State University

Dr. Benjamin Norris

Professor, Master of Environmental Management in Sustainability Coordinator

Office: 309 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4157
Email: bnnorris@frostburg.edu

Teaching Interests:

• General Chemistry, Organic chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Biostatistics, Environmental Management, First-Year Seminar, Research Methods

Research Interests:

• Development of biorenewable alternatives to petrochemicals, conjugated small molecule chemosensors, application of data analytics to student success and retention, the development of academic advising as a profession and an academic discipline

• Additional Information

  Bio

  Dr. Benjamin Norris graduated with honors from Frostburg State University with a B.S. in Chemistry (minor in Mathematics) in May 2004. As a student at Frostburg, Dr. Norris received the prestigious Regent’s Scholarship, was president of the Student Members of the American Chemical Society, and received the Class of ’59 Leadership Award.

  Dr. Norris pursued graduate studies in Organic and Polymer Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh from Fall 2004 through Summer 2010. He defended his thesis in January 2011, and received his Ph.D. in May 2011. His research included studies toward the development of new palladium-catalyzed multicomponent coupling reactions and the synthesis of sequenced phenylene-vinylene oligomers and copolymers. His development of a new strategy for the iterative synthesis of oligo(para-phenylene-vinylene)s using olefin metathesis has been published in Organic Letters. His study of the relationship between sequence and optoelectronic properties of oligo(para-phenylene-vinylene)s was featured on the cover of the February 26, 2013 issues of Macromolecules. While a graduate student at Pitt, Dr. Norris was a Graduate Teaching Fellow and received the Hurd Safford Teaching Award.

  Dr. Norris returned to his alma mater as an Instructor of Chemistry in Fall 2010. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in Fall 2011, to Associate Professor in 2016, and Professor in 2023. He won the FSU Faculty Achievement Award for University and Community Service in 2015. Dr. Norris also holds a Microsoft professional program certification in data science. Dr. Norris served FSU as Chair of the Faculty from 2017 to 2021 and Interim Associate Provost from 2021 to 2023. He is active in NACADA (the Global Community for Academic Advising), serving on the editorial board of the NACADA Journal, the advisory board for the NACADA Assessment Institute, and the steering committee for the Faculty Advising Community. Dr. Norris is a member of the NACADA Emerging Leader class of 2022-2024, and he served as an Assessment Institute Faculty Intern and an Excellence in Academic Advising Fellow, both in 2024. Dr. Norris is a member of the FSU Foundation Board of Directors. 

  
  

  Publications

  1. Norris, Benjamin N.; Zhang, Shaopeng; Campbell, Casey M.; Auletta, Jeffrey T.; Calvo-Marzal, Percy; Hutchison, Geoffrey R.; Meyer, Tara Y. “Sequence Matters: Modulating Electronic and Optical Properties of Conjugated Oligomers via Tailored Sequence”, Macromolecules, 2013, 46 (4), 1384-1392. DOI: 10/1021/ma400123r.
     Cover Article: Macromolecules, Vol. 46, Issue 4, February 26, 2013.
  2. Norris, Benjamin N.; Pan, Tianqi; Meyer, Tara Y. “Iterative Synthesis of Heterotelechelic Oligo(Phenylene-Vinylene) by Olefin Cross Metathesis.” Organic Letters, 2010, 12 (23), 5514-5517. DOI: 10.1021/ol102398y.

  
  

  National Conference, Workshop, and Institute Presentations 

  1. Carmel-Etienne, M., Norris, B., (2024, January 1–February 2). Exploring and Developing Measures for Assessment and Interpretation of Data [Institute workshop]. 2024 NACADA Assessment Institute, Durham, NC.
  2. Chandler, D., Vance, I., Norris, B. (2024, January 1–February 2). Process Delivery Outcomes/Process Measures [Institute presentation]. 2024 NACADA Assessment Institute, Durham, NC.
  3. Carmel-Etienne, M., Norris, B., Bowlus, A. (2024, January 1–February 2). Visualizing and Summarizing the Data You Collected and Analyzed [Institute presentation]. 2024 NACADA Assessment Institute, Durham, NC.
  4. Bridgen, S., Norris, B., Lewis, E., Cooley, J., Marchesani, D. (2023, October 4–7). Excellence in Academic Advising [Panel discussion]. 2023 NACADA Annual Conference, Miami, FL.
  5. Norris, B., Kraft-Terry, S. (2023, October 4–7). Telling the story of advising through data visualization [Pre-conference workshop]. 2023 NACADA Annual Conference, Miami, FL.
  6. Palmer, K., Schmidt, K., & Norris, B. (2023, October 4–7). Ask a faculty advisor [Panel discussion].” 2023 NACADA Annual Conference, Miami, FL.
  7. McClellan J., Norris, B., Hegeman, J., Kinsinger, K. (2022, October 23–26). Bridging Strategy and Structure to Achieve Success in Academic Advising [Pre-conference workshop]. 2022 NACADA Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
  8. Norris, B., Hegeman, J., McClellan, J, & Kinsinger, K. (2022, October 23–26). Excellence in Academic Advising: Facilitating Advising Transformation [Conference presentation]. 2022 NACADA Annual Conference, Portland, OR.
  9. Bittinger, S.-B., Norris, B., & Donoway, T. (2021, December 13–14). New Horizons for Institutional Effectiveness: Streamlined and sustainable assessment of assessment [Conference presentation]. 2021 Middle States Commission on Higher Education Annual Conference, Live virtual session.
  10. Brown, J., Campbell, S., Hegeman, J., Kraft-Terry, S. McGillin, V., Norris, B.
      Sindt, K. (2020, October) Excellence in Academic Advising: Evidence-Based Advising Transformation [Panel Discussion]. 2020 NACADA Annual Conference, Recorded virtual session.
  11. Brown, J., Campbell, S., Hegeman, J., Higgins, E., Kraft-Terry, S. McGillin, V., & Norris, B. (2019, October 20–23). Excellence in Academic Advising: Evidence-Based Advising Transformation [Panel discussion]. 2019 NACADA Annual Conference, Louisville, KY.
  12. Norris, B. N. (2014, March 16–20). Redesigning the first semester course in general chemistry for science majors [Conference presentation]. 247^th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, Dallas, TX.
  13. Norris, B. N.; Pan, T.; Meyer, T. M. (2009, August). Homologous synthesis of end-differentiated
      oligo(p-phenylene-vinylene)s [Poster presentation]. 238^th ACS National Meeting and Exposition, Philadelphia, PA
  14. Beeman, C. G.; Shaerdel, A. D.; Norris, B. N. (2003, March). Elementary and high school demonstrations: Promoting chemistry at a young age [Poster presentation]. 225^th ACS National Meeting and Exposition, New Orleans, LA.

  
  

  Degrees

  Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
  B.S., Frostburg State University

 

Dr. Jerald Simon

Associate Professor

Office: 349 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.4155
Email: jsimon@frostburg.edu

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., University of California
  B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

   

Dr. Jason Speights

Associate Professor, Director of Multimedia Learning Center

Office: 189-D Gira CCIT
Phone: 301.687.4339
Email: jcspeights@frostburg.edu

Teaching Interests:

• Theoretical Physics; Computational Physics; Astrophysics; Modern Physics; Introductory Physics

Research Interests:

• Galactic Dynamics and Evolution; Parameter Estimation; Data Analysis; Instrumentation; Multi-wavelength Astronomy

• Additional Information

  Degrees:

  Ph.D., NM Tech
  M.S., NM Tech
  B.S., NM Tech
  A.S. Maplewoods Community College

  Publications

  Multimedia Learning Center

Staff 

Ms. Hayley Baer

Academic Laboratory Manager

Office: 357 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.3131
Email: hbbaer@frostburg.edu

Ms. Crystal Frantz

Administrative Assistant II

Office: 354 Compton Science Center
Phone: 301.687.3458
Email: cafrantz@frostburg.edu 

 

Emeriti Faculty

• Dr. Peggy Biser
• Dr. Robert Doyle
• Dr. Joseph Hoffman
• Dr. Paul Hunt
• Dr. Gregory P. Latta
• Dr. Stephen Luzader
• Dr. James Martin
• Dr. Mary Mumper
• Dr. Frederick Senese
• Mr. Francis Tam
• Dr. Don Weser