Minnie Stevens Piper Professor

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Texas Tech University

 

 

Dominick Casadonte is Minnie Stevens Piper Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas Tech University. He was Director of the STEM Center for Outreach, Research, and Education (STEM CORE) from 2016-2019. He was also Interim Dean of the Graduate School from 2012-2014 and is Past Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2005-2010). After receiving an undergraduate degree in Chemistry with Honors from Case Institute of Technology of Case Western Reserve University in 1977, Dr. Casadonte earned an M.S. degree (Physical Chemistry) and Ph.D. (Inorganic Chemistry) from Purdue University in 1985 under Dave McMillin. He then did postdoctoral work at the University of Illinois in the laboratories of Ken Suslick and Ted Brown. In 1988, Dr. Casadonte was awarded one of the first ten Scholar/Fellow Fellowships given by the Dreyfus Foundation. He began his academic career at Texas Tech University in the fall of 1989.

            Dr. Casadonte's chemical research focuses on the use of high-intensity ultrasound for nanomaterials fabrication and environmental remediation, supramolecular photochemistry and the design of photoactive metallopolymers, and the synthesis and photochemistry of Cu(I) complexes containing phenanthroline. His research in chemical education includes work in service learning, chemical safety, course flipping, and work force development, especially among underrepresented groups in STEM. He has more than 225 research publications and presentations, and has been Principal Investigator or co- Principal Investigator on research and outreach grants worth more than 9.2 million dollars. In the fall of 2000, Dr. Casadonte was named a Fulbright Scholar to France, where he worked on environmental remediation using high-intensity ultrasound and in the development of power-modulated sonochemistry. He was the North American Journal Editor for Ultrasonics: Sonochemistry (Elsevier) from 2001 - 2015, and was recognized in 2017 as one of the “Top 40 Flipped Learning Experts in Higher Education in the World” by the Flipped Learning Global Initiative. In addition to his recent designation as a world leader in flipped education, in 2000 he was named the Alpha Phi Foundation International Professor of the Year. Dr. Casadonte has received every major teaching award offered at Texas Tech University. In 2001 received the first Chancellor's Council Distinguished Teaching Award for the Texas Tech System. Also in that year he was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor, a designation by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation given to ten faculty in the state of Texas each year who excel in teaching, research, and service. In 2019 was named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Casadonte received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring from the White House in 2019. This is the highest recognition that a mathematics or science teacher may receive for outstanding teaching in the United States. In the spring of 2021, Dr. Casadonte received the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)-Goldwater Scholars Mentor Award for his work involving undergraduate research students.