Meet The Speaker
About
William LaCourse
About the Speaker:
William R. LaCourse is a professor of chemistry who has served as Dean of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) at UMBC since 2012. His research interests include basic and applied research on hydrodynamic electroanalytical techniques in liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis, adsorption phenomena at noble metal electrodes, and advanced sample preparation techniques (e.g., microdialysis and pressurized-fluid extraction). At Ames Laboratory/Iowa State University under the direction of Professor Dennis C. Johnson, he helped in the development of carbohydrate detection systems based on their electrocatalytic detection at noble metal electrodes, which is denoted as Pulsed Electrochemical Detection. This work has been applied to a wide range of critically significant applications, including glycoprotein characterization and its carbohydrate structure determination. With 74 refereed articles, nine reviews, 26 chapters, a sole-authored book, two patents and over 300 national and international talks, Dr. LaCourse has melded a prodigious career in analytical chemistry with his interests in innovative teaching and learning strategies aimed at student success. In 2005, he founded UMBC’s Chemistry Discovery Center, which dramatically improved student performance in introductory chemistry courses. Dr. LaCourse, in collaboration with other UMBC professionals, works to fulfill an ambitious strategy for the advancement of the CNMS educational and research mission. He is a dedicated teacher who has mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students throughout his career and his former students hold positions in industry, government, and academia. In addition to his research interests in hydrodynamic electroanalytical systems, Dr. LaCourse is a former Kauffman Fellow of Entrepreneurship who helped to establish an entrepreneurship minor at UMBC and cofounded Aurora Analytics, LLC.