I am absolutely thrilled to be the Dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. CNAS is truly poised to do great things – especially in research. We have outstanding faculty and educating our students is our number one priority. Education in the natural and applied sciences does require research and internships – hands-on learning outside of the typical lecture hall or smaller classroom. This also applies to our strong teacher education programs within the college. Teaching and research are integrally linked in many ways: faculty workloads, student success, modeling life-long learning, and providing a public service in the publication of research results. CNAS supports public service activities by encouraging the faculty, staff, and students to contribute their expertise in order to advance science, environmental, and education issues.

I looked into the history of the college and learned that the university first formed academic departments in 1945 and there were thirteen of them. In 1968 the university divided into four divisions and one of them was the Division of Science and Technology. The divisions were renamed schools in 1972 and then colleges in 1985. The college name changed again with reorganizations in 1994.

1968	Division of Science and Technology	Director – Carl Fronabarger
1972	School of Science and Technology	Director – Carl Fronabarger
1975	School of Science and Technology	Director – Clif Thompson
1985	College of Science and Mathematics	Dean – Clif Thompson
1987	College of Science and Mathematics	Dean – Jerry Berlin
1994	College of Natural and Applied Sciences	Dean – Larry Banks
2006	College of Natural and Applied Sciences	Dean – Tammy Jahnke

I am a professor of chemistry and have been at Missouri State University since 1986. I arrived in Springfield from my home state of Iowa and in particular the University of Iowa. I love teaching, especially organic chemistry courses or general chemistry courses for nonmajors. My research interests are in lipid peroxidation products and spectroscopic analysis of organic molecules. I am also interested in service learning in the sciences. I just returned from the BCCE (Biennial Conference on Chemical Education) where I presented a paper on service learning. I am currently working on analyzing journals and reflection papers in preparation for submitting a written publication. I have had NSF funding to support this work in the past. 

I look forward to working with the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of CNAS!!! Please watch for news and new developments in CNAS on this website!!!