Assistant Professor Jen Dabrowski of the Department of Chemistry joined the Elon faculty in 2015.
Elon University has named Assistant Professor Jen Dabrowski of the Department of Chemistry as the A.L. Hook Emerging Scholar in Science & Mathematics.
The professorship, which has a three-year term, is awarded to a member of the faculty who has ongoing, active scholarship, has a history of mentoring undergraduate research and has demonstrated the ability to impact students, their department and the university. Dabrowski’s selection follows a committee review and recommendation, with the professorship appointed by Elon Provost and Executive Vice President Steven House.
Dabrowski joined the Department of Chemistry at Elon in 2015 following the completion of a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of North Carolina. Since joining the faculty, she has worked with seven undergraduate researchers in her lab including two Elon College Fellows, two SURE participants and one Lumen Prize winner, with her mentees going on to present at regional and national conferences.
She has co-authored two peer-reviewed journal articles and was selected to give presentations at the Southeast Regional American Chemical Society and the National American Chemical Society conferences. She has received the national American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry Travel Award, Elon’s Hultquist Award and was selected as a Sustainability Faculty Scholar at Elon in 2018.
Her research group focuses on two areas — organometallic chemistry for sustainability and the bioorganic chemistry of vanadium for human health applications. Her sustainability research focuses on designing systems that can transform biorenewable resources into consumer feedstocks, which are the building blocks for consumer-based products. Her work with vanadium focuses on the potential for vanadium-derived compounds to be use in the treatment of diabetes.
Dabrowski says the Hook professorship will offer her more time and more resources to mentor her students, while also offering greater opportunities to travel and present at conferences along with publishing peer-reviewed work with undergraduate researchers. She plans to also see grant funding from the American Chemical Society, the N.C. Biotechnology Center and the National Science Foundation during her time as Hook professor.
Dabrowski earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, and her doctoral degree in chemistry from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Tommy Holmes and Harris L. Hendricks, Elon alumni, established the A.L. Hook Emerging Scholar Professorship in Science and Mathematics to honor former physics and mathematics professor, Alonzo Lohr Hook, and to support science, research and student involvement at Elon. Previous faculty members who have held the professorship are Crista Arangala, Kyle Altmann, Kathryn Matera and Chad Awtrey.