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Meet the Faculty

Patricia Dooley

Why I came to Simon's Rock

My last assignment in the U. S. Army was at the United States Military Academy in the Department Chemistry & Life Science. Oftentimes, conversations with the young majors and captains serving as instructors turned to “What do you want to do when you retire?”—Armyspeak for when you finally grow up—and my response was, “Live out in the country and teach smart students at a small undergraduate-only college.” In my first year as a sabbatical replacement, I realized I had achieved that goal living in Great Barrington, walking to school, and engaging the bright, eager, hungry-for-knowledge mind of the Simon’s Rock student.

Pullquote
❝I recognize students who stay with general chemistry through the second semester by presenting them with a lapel pin of an element of the periodic table that in some way represents their name; Rachel Feltman sports a rutherfordium pin, Rf; Chanese Forte walked away with californium, Cf. After earning an Li (for lithium) pin, Lindsey Longway wore it her first day in organic chemistry lab for good luck; she earned bragging rights to be there.❞
My teaching style

Number 6 on my 7-item teaching philosophy list is “One learns when one teaches. Expect students to teach themselves, and function as pathfinder, azimuth corrector, advisor, and guide. Not lecturer.” I employ the Socratic method; when a student asks a question, I reply with a series of questions taking the student back to a point where he does know the answer, then another question leads to another answer, and so forth, until the student has answered her own question.

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Patty Dooley

Chemistry
Division: Science, Mathematics and Computing
Appointment: 2008

Fisher Science & Academic Bldg 130
413-644-4966
pdooley@simons-rock.edu

 

Education:

PhD, Vanderbilt University, Chemistry, 1998
MS, Naval War College, National Security and Strategic Studies (with honors), 1999
MS, Vanderbilt University, Chemistry, 1989
BS, University of Notre Dame, Chemistry, 1978

Professional History:

Deputy Head and Academy Professor, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY 1999-2008
West Point Fellow, Naval War College 1998-1999
Assistant Professor, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY 1989-1992
Various leadership and command & staff positions throughout the world in the United States Army, 1978-2008

Areas of Interest:

Interdisciplinary integration of chemistry education and history,literature, politics, society, and other scientific disciplines • classroom research into formative assessment.

Publications/Book Chapters/Exhibitions/Performances:

  • Dooley, Patricia A. “How Do You Say ‘Sulfuric Acid’ in Dari? Chemistry as a Second Language: Chemical Education” in a Globalized Society. January 1, 2010, 121-138.
  • Huang, Hai; Dooley, Patricia A.; Harris, Constance M.; Harris, Thomas M.; and Stone, Michael P., “Differential Base Stacking Interactions Induced by Trimethylene Interstrand DNA Cross-Links in the 5’-CpG-3’ and 5’-GpC-3’ Sequence Contexts,” Chem. Res. Toxicol., 2009, 22 (11): 1810–1816.
  • Dooley, Patricia A.; Tsarouhtsis, Dimitrios; Korbel, Gregory A.; Nechev, Lubomir V.; Shearer, Jill; Zegar, Irene S.; Harris, Constance M.; Stone, Michael P.; and Harris, Thomas M., “Structural Studies of an Oligodeoxynucleotide Containing a Trimethylene Interstrand Cross-Link in a 5’-(CpG) Motif: Model of a Malondialdehyde Cross-Link,” J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 123(8): 1730-1739.
  • Dooley, Patricia A.; Zhang, Mingzhou; Korbel, Gregory A.; Nechev, Lubomir V.; Harris, Constance M.; Stone, Michael P.; and Harris, Thomas M., “NMR Determination of the Conformation of a Trimethylene Interstrand Cross-Link in an Oligodeoxynucleotide Duplex Containing a 5’-d(GpC) Motif,” J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 125(1): 62-72.
  • Blackman, Merrill S.; Dooley, Patricia; Kuchinski, Bill; and Chapman, David, “It Worked a Different Way,” College Teaching 50(1): 27-28.

Awards/Grants

  • United States Military Academy Fellow to the Naval War College, 1998-1999 Four-Year Army ROTC Scholarship, University of Notre Dame, 1974-1978 (Distinguished Military Graduate)