Lon A. Porter, Jr.
Better living through chemistry is what they say…and chemistry is shaping up to be a great career choice for me. My name is Lon Porter, and I am in my fifth year as an assistant professor of chemistry at Wabash College, a small liberal arts college in Indiana. Teaching is great fun. Sure, it’s pretty nerve-racking out on the old tenure trail, yet being able to collaborate with engaging colleagues and interact with motivated students in the classroom and in my research lab is something I wouldn’t trade for anything. My personal journey began as an undergraduate student at the University of Houston. I’m from H-town originally and fondly remember taking part in summer research in fullerenes and metal nanoparticles with Professor T. Randall Lee. It was an amazing learning experience and solidified my interest in chemistry and my drive to become a professor one day. Before I knew it, my senior year arrived, I published my first paper in an ACS journal, was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, applied to and bounced across the country visiting graduate programs, and finally signed on the dotted line once I discovered a school, advisor, and project that I believed was a great match for me. It was one of the most exciting times of my life. Before I knew it, all of my junk and I moved nearly 1200 miles to the Indiana city of West Lafayette, home of Purdue University. Once classes and cumulative exams were more under control, I was able to spend more and more time in the laboratory. My mentor, Professor Jillian Buriak, was a young faculty member with a great excitement for the research she focused on. This excitement was contagious. After all that hard work, I’m very happy to be an assistant professor of chemistry. Things at Wabash are exciting and working with students is the best part of my job. When I’m not doing demos in lecture or working with students in the lab, I’m racking up the kills on the Xbox or the PC in various video games. I am also a complete movie junkie and love catching up on all the latest films.