Jane E. Wissinger
Professor Emerita, Department of Chemistry
Jane E. Wissinger
Professor Emerita, Department of Chemistry
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Professor Emerita, Department of Chemistry
Professor Emerita, Department of Chemistry
Our research interests focus on the development of organic chemistry laboratory experiments and curriculum materials for the college and high school levels that exemplify modern green chemistry methodology, advances in sustainable polymers, and guided-inquiry pedagogy. One example is the development of a new green oxidation procedure for the undergraduate organic teaching laboratories using Oxone® and a catalytic amount of sodium chloride for the conversion of borneol to camphor, both natural products.1 Also developed in our labs is a novel sustainable polymer experiment which involves the synthesis of a triblock polymer from a naturally occurring lactone and L-lactide.2 This all renewable thin, film polymer can be analyzed by 1H NMR analysis and has been successfully performed by thousands of students in our organic chemistry laboratory course.
Jane Wissinger received her Bachelor of Arts from Susquehanna University (PA), Master's from Georgia Institute of Technology (GA), and doctorate in organic chemistry from Northwestern University (IL). She was employed as a research scientist at Rohm & Haas Co. for five years before beginning her academic career at the University of Minnesota.
Wissinger’s teaching and research interests focus on the development of curriculum materials for the college and high school levels that exemplify modern green chemistry methodology, advances in sustainable polymers, and guidedinquiry pedagogy. She is a senior principal investigator in the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers and active in promoting green chemistry education locally and on a national level through funded projects, publications, and conferences.
Her contributions to education were recognized with a University of Minnesota Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor award (2014) and an ACS-CEI Award for Incorporation of Sustainability in Chemistry Education (2018). Wissinger was an Institute on the Environment (IonE) Educator in 2018-2019. She has been a member of the American Chemical Society since 1980 and is currently an associate of the National ACS Committee on Environmental Improvement.
Wissinger retired in August 2023 after 25 years of teaching and service. You can read a news story about her career and retirement here.