This is the home page of Dr. Mark D. Ellison

Department of Chemistry, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 19426

I am a physical chemist here at Ursinus College. I joined the faculty in August 2005. I was previously the physical chemist at Wittenberg University. Here is a picture of me having fun with chemistry!

Education

Postdoctoral Research at the University of Wisconsin
I worked in the Chemistry Department in the research group of Professor Robert J. Hamers, investigating the binding of organic molecules to silicon surfaces.
Ph. D. from Stanford University in 1997 in Chemistry
My doctoral research was directed by Professor Richard N. Zare. Check out the Zarelab.
My dissertation investigated the interaction of atoms and molecules with a nickel surface.
B. S. from theUniversity of Pittsburgh in 1990 in Chemistry (what else?)
I did undergraduate research with several professors, spending the most time in the lab of Professor John T. Yates, Jr., where I studied several chemical reactions on an iron surface.

I also did research under the guidance of Professor Peter Siska, who introduced me to the study of chemical reaction dynamics. I helped to construct a potential energy surface for the H+H₂ reaction for use as a teaching aid.

Finally, I did some work with Professor Ken Jordan, developing a computer program to display the normal vibrational modes of small molecules.

Professor David Pratt served as an excellent academic advisor and mentor to me.

Here is my academic family tree. I can trace my "academic family" back to the 1400s!

Courses Taught

Chem 100 - Topics in Chemistry
Chem 105 - General Chemistry I: Foundations
Chem 105a - General Chemistry I Laboratory
Chem 206 - General Chemistry II: Analysis
Chem 206a - General Chemistry II Laboratory
Chem 309 - Physical Chemistry I
Chem 309 - Physical Chemistry I Laboratory
Chem 310 - Physical Chemistry II
Chem 310a - Physical Chemistry II Laboratory
Chem 380 - Materials Science

Click here for a link to the page with descriptions for these courses.

Here is a Haiku I wrote about teaching chemistry

colorful changes
chemistry students wonder
atoms swirl quickly

Here is a link to a movie (1.1Mb) that shows the force of an expanding gas. If you think P Chem isn't any fun, click here.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

The Spring 2001 Chem 162 class is the best! Click here to see why!

Click here to hear what Bart Simpson said about this web site!

Vitae and Publications

My Curriculum Vitae
A list of my publications

Research Interests

My research interests are in the areas of the chemistry of surfaces and materials. Specifically, I am interested in using chemistry to design electrical and optical properties of materials.

Adsorption of Gases on Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes have a wide array of interesting mechanical and electrical properties. We are studying the adsorption of gases on nanotubes and how the adsorption changes the electrical properties of the nanotubes.

This research has been supported by a Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation.

Attachment of Organic Layers to Silicon
Silicon is the basis of nearly all technology, from transistors to integrated circuits to to computer CPUs. We use infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to study silicon surfaces. Click here to see some of the images students have collected.

Click here for a list of current and former research students.

The great entropy dice roll! Click here.

Send me an e-mail: mellison AT ursinus.edu