Natural and Computational Sciences
Gwen Baumann

Gwen Baumann
Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Weaver Hall
217-525-1420 x3247
gbaumann@ben.edu

Gwen is excited about joining the Benedictine faculty, with her experience she hopes to have a positive impact on the growth of Benedictine University at Springfield. She has spent most of her career in academics, with a couple of years in industry.  She has taught at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey; Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia; Miami University, Middletown, OH and Millikin University, Decatur, IL.  Gwen has taught chemistry majors, nursing students, and education majors.  Gwen loves to travel and last summer mixed her love of travel and teaching with a travel course to the United Kingdom visiting sites related to the history of science.

Gwen is interested in synthetic organic and coordination chemistry.  She spent time in Taiwan at Tunghai University working with Dr. Andrew Yeh on the oxidation of Ruthenium complexes.  Currently she is working with a student at Millikin University on the use of cobalt complexes as protecting groups for organic synthesis.

Besides her interest in teaching chemistry to college students she has been active in the community through the American Chemical Society (performing demonstrations at elementary schools and libraries for the general public), and assisting behind the scenes at Theatre 7, Decatur’s community theater.