Christian Hamann earned his B.S. in Chemistry at Lebanon Valley College after completing an A.A. at Ocean County College that included a semester at the Collegium Palatinum in Heidelberg, Germany. He followed his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania with a postdoctoral fellowship at the Thomas Jefferson University and then a stint in the Cancer Research Department at the Merck Research Laboratories. After a visiting assistant professorship at Franklin & Marshall College, Dr. Hamann joined the faculty at Albright College in 2001.

• Computational and theoretical chemistry
• Physical organic chemistry
• Accessibility for blind and visually impaired students

Modeling the Biosynthesis of Terpenes and Their Atropisomers

Pedagogy, Undergraduate Research, and Outreach

• CHE 101: Wine & Cheese – The Natural Science of Daily Life
• CHE 200: Health, Safety and Asset Protection
• CHE 207: Organic Chemistry I
• CHE 208: Organic Chemistry II
• CHE 322: Thermodynamics and Kinetics (biophysical chemistry laboratory)
• CHE 325: Biochemistry I (laboratory)
• CHE 326: Biochemistry II (laboratory)
• CHE 411: Advanced Organic Chemistry
• CHE 412: Advanced Topics in Chemistry
• FYS 100: Liberal Sciences – Natural Sciences and the Liberal Arts
• IDS 100: Uncertainty and the Creation of of Knowledge

Selected Publications (current or former undergraduate students underlined)

• “Connecting Organic and Physical Chemistry Students with Raman Spectroscopy.” Hantz, ER; Sonntag, MD; Hamann, CS. In Raman Spectroscopy in the Undergraduate Curriculum; Sonntag, M. D., Ed.; ACS Symposium Series 1305; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2018; pp 35-51. (invited)

• “Utilizing NMR to Study Structure and Equilibrium in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory.” Smith, KT; Young, SC; DeBlasio, JW; Hamann, CS.In NMR Spectroscopy in the Undergraduate Curriculum: First Year and Organic Chemistry Courses Volume 2; Soulsby, D., Anna, L. J., Wallner, A. S., Eds.; ACS Symposium Series 1221; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2016; pp 119-136. (invited)

• “Predicting Hydration Propensities of Biologically Relevant α-Ketoamides.” Wedler, HB; Palazzo, TA; Pemberton, RP; Hamann, CS; Kurth, MJ; Tantillo, DJ. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters (2015) 25, 4153-4157.

• “Delocalization of Charge and Electron Density in the Humulyl Cation – Implications for Terpene Biosynthesis.” Hamlin, TA; Hamann, CS; Tantillo, DJ. Journal of Organic Chemistry (2015) 80, 4046-4053.

• “Applied Computational Chemistry for the Blind and Visually Impaired.” Wedler, HB; Cohen, SR; Davis, RL; Harrison, JG; Siebert, MR; Willenbring, D; Hamann, CS; Shaw, JT; Tantillo, DJ. Journal of Chemical Education (2012) 89, 1400-1404.

Selected Presentations (current or former undergraduate students underlined)

• “NanoConnections: Leveraging the Power of Networking to Cultivate Access for Chemists with Disabilities.” Hamann, CS. (invited) 256th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, MA (2018); also presented at Sci-Mix.

• “Backbone-Breaking Alkyl Shifts: Anomaly, Coincidence, or Pattern in Sesquiterpene Biosynthesis?” Guan, N. (presenter); Tantillo, DJ; Hamann, CS. 256th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, MA (2018); also presented at Sci-Mix.

• “Tailoring a Chalcone Synthesis for Use with Deuterated Starting Materials.” Gehman, CA (presenter); Hamann, CS. 253rd American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2017).

• “Is the Predicted Mechanism of Cycloseychellene Synthesis as (Z,Z) as It Seems?” Hamann, CS; Zehr, JD; Tantillo, DJ. 36th Reaction Mechanisms Conference, St. Louis, MO (2016).

• “Investigating Sterically Congested Dimethoxybenzenes Using Computational Methods.” Zehr, JD (presenter); Hamann, CS. 251st American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Diego, CA (2016).

• “Progress toward a Conformational Database for Proposed Sesquiterpene Reaction Pathways.” Zehr, JD; Tantillo, DJ; Hamann, CS. 251st American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Diego, CA (2016).

• “A Blind and Visually Impaired-Accessible Investigation of Hydration Propensities of Biologically-Relevant α-Ketoamides.” Henry B. Wedler (presenter); Teresa A. Palazzo; Ryan P. Pemberton; Christian S. Hamann; Mark J. Kurth; Dean J. Tantillo. 251st American Chemical Society National Meeting, San Diego, CA (2016).

• “Carbocation Rearrangements in the Undergraduate Laboratory: GC/MS and NMR Deduction of Products from Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution in a Discovery Laboratory Experiment.” Maskornick, MV; Polito, V; Rhile, IJ; Hamann, CS. 250th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, MA (2015).

• “Measuring Structural and Electronic Effects on Keto-Enol Equilibrium in 1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds.”Young, SC (presenter); Smith, KT; DeBlasio, JW; Hamann, CS. 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Denver, CO (2015).

• “The Price of Admission: Exploring the Transition from Straight Chain to First Cycle in Sesquiterpene Biosynthesis Using Quantum Chemical Calculations.” Hamann, CS; Lodewyk, MW; Tantillo, DJ. 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Denver, CO (2015); also presented at Sci-Mix.

• “Using Borane, Ammonium and Methylene Substitution to Characterize Stabilizing Features of a Macrocyclic Sesquiterpene Cation.” Hamlin, TA; Tantillo, DJ; Hamann, CS. 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Denver, CO (2015); also presented at Sci-Mix.

• The Class of ’49 Annadora Vesper Shirk Award for Faculty Scholarship (2016)

• Lehigh Valley Section of the American Chemical Society Volunteer of the Month (June, 2014)

• The Dr. Henry P. and M. Paige Laughlin Annual Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching (2007)

• “Dynamic Effects on Product Distributions in the Cyclization of Sesquiterpenes” and related projects. NSF XSEDE: Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (2014-2018)

• “Albright College Environmentally-oriented Sciences (ACES) Scholarship Program: Supporting the Study of the Environment through STEM Disciplines.” NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (2014-2019) Mech, SG (PI); Brylawski, BJ; Graves, CR; Hamann, CS; Sonntag, MD.