Site Administration The College of William and Mary
Elizabeth J. Harbron
ejharb@wm.edu
 
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry
The College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
phone (757)221-2557
fax (757)221-2715
 
 

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

Aug. 2002 – present   Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of William and Mary

 
EDUCATION

1999- 2002     Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas at Austin

                     Research Advisor: Prof. Paul F. Barbara         

 

Aug. 1999      Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

                     Dissertation: “Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Studies of Molecular

                     Motions in Polymers”

                     Research Advisor: Prof. Malcolm D.E. Forbes

 

May 1995       B.A. in Chemistry and Gender and Women’s Studies, Grinnell College

                     Research Advisor: Prof. James E. Swartz

 
HONORS

2008              Inter-American Photochemical Society Young Investigator Award

2000-2002      National Institutes of Health NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship

1996-1999      National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship

1999              Richard D. Gilbert Award in Polymer Science, given by ACS North Carolina

                     Section Polymer Discussion Group

1995-1996      Charles N. Reilley Memorial Fellowship, University of North Carolina

1995-1996      Frances Preston Venable Chemistry Scholarship, U. of North Carolina

1995              graduation with honors, Grinnell College

1994              Phi Beta Kappa

1991-1995      Trustee Honor Scholarship, Grinnell College

 

COURSES TAUGHT

Chemistry 206: Organic Chemistry I                Spring ’04, ‘05

Chemistry 209: Organic Chemistry II               Fall ‘02, ’03, ‘04, '06, '07

Chemistry 252: Organic Chemistry II Lab         Spring ’03, ‘04

Chemistry 353: Organic Chemistry III Lab        Fall ‘02, ’03, ‘05, '07

Chemistry 191: Freshman Honors Research    Fall ’02, ‘04, '06

Chemistry 291: Chemical Research                Fall ’02 through present

Chemistry 409: Senior Research                     Fall ’03 through present

Chemistry 458: Organic Spectroscopy            Fall ‘05, Spring '07

Chemistry 495-496: Honors                            Fall ’03 through present

 
FUNDING
NSF CAREER, "Toward Photocontrol of Conjugated Polymer Emission: Modulation of Fluorescence Properties in Photochromic Poly(p-phenylenevinylene) Derivatives," 2007-2012.
 
Jeffress Research Grant, “Factors Influencing the Kinetics of Aromatic Stacking in an Azobenzene Photoswitch,” 2003-2005.
 
2002 Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Start-up Grant for Undergraduate Institutions, “Probing the Specificity of Protein/DNA Interactions with Ensemble and Single Molecule Spectroscopy,” 2002-2006.
 
PUBLICATIONS (W&M undergraduates in bold)
 
Grimes, A.F.; Call, S.E. ‘07; Harbron, E.J.; English, D.S. “Wavelength-Resolved Studies of Förster Energy Transfer in Azobenzene-Modified Conjugated Polymers: The Competing Roles of Exciton Migration and Spectral Resonance,” J. Phys. Chem. C, 2007, 111, 14257 - 14265.
 
Lewis, S.M. '06; Harbron, E.J. "Photomodulated PPV Emission in an Photochromic Polymer Film," J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 4425-4430.
 
Harbron, E.J.; Hadley, D.H. '07; Imm, M.R. '07 “Solvent Effects on Phototriggered Conformational Changes in an Azobenzene-Functionalized Poly(p-phenylene vinylene),” J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 2007, 186, 151-157.
 
Grimes, A.F.; Call, S.E. '07; Vicente, D.A. '05; English, D.S.; Harbron, E.J. “Toward Efficient Photomodulation of Conjugated Polymer Emission: Optimizing Differential Energy Transfer in Azobenzene-Substituted PPV Derivatives,” J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 19183-19190. 
 
Forbes, M.D.E.; Dukes, K.E.; Avdievich, N. I.; Harbron, E.J.; DeSimone, J.M. “Flexible Biradicals in Liquid and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: The Exchange Interaction, the Chain Dynamics, and a Comparison with Conventional Solvents,” J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 1767-1774.
 
Harbron, E.J.; Vicente, D.A. '05; Hadley, D.H. '07; Imm, M.R. '07 “Phototriggered Fluorescence Color Changes in Azobenzene-Functionalized Conjugated Polymers,” J. Phys. Chem. A. 2005, 109, 10846-10853. 
 
Harbron, E.J.; Bunyard, W.C.; Forbes, M.D.E. “Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spin Probe Study of Carbon Dioxide-Induced Polymer Plasticization,” J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys. 2005, 43, 2097-2108.
 
McCaffrey, V.P.; Harbron, E.J.; Forbes, M.D.E. “Time-Resolved EPR Studies of Main Chain Radicals from Acrylic Polymers. Effects of Tacticity, Solvent, and Side Group Structure on Chain Stiffness,” J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 10686-10694.
 
McCaffrey, V.P.; Harbron, E.J.; Forbes, M.D.E. “Time-Resolved EPR Studies of Main Chain Radicals from Acrylic Polymers. Dynamic Effects Due to Conformational Motion,” Macromolecules 2005, 38, 3342 -3350.
 
Harbron, E.J.; Vicente, D.A. '05; Hoyt, M.T. '04 “Fluorescence Modulation via Isomer-Dependent Energy Transfer in an Azobenzene-Functionalized PPV Derivative,” J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 18789-18792.
 
Cosa, G.; Harbron, E.J.; Zeng, Y.; Liu, H.-W.; O’Connor, D.B.; Eta-Hosokawa, C.; Musier-Forsyth, K.; Barbara, P.F. “Secondary Structure and Secondary Structure Dynamics of DNA Hairpins Complexed with HIV-1 NC Protein,” Biophys. J. 2004, 87, 2759-2767.
 
Hong, M.; Harbron, E.J.; O’Connor, D.B.; Guo, J.; Barbara, P.F.; Levin, J.G., and Musier-Forsyth, K. “Nucleic Acid Conformational Changes Essential for HIV-1 Nucleocapsid Protein-mediated Inhibition of Self-priming in Minus-strand Transfer,” J. Mol. Biol. 2003, 325, 1-10.
 
Harbron, E.J.; Barbara, P.F. “The Poisson Distribution and Single Molecule Spectroscopy: An Undergraduate Analytical Laboratory Experiment,” J. Chem. Ed. 2002, 79, 211-213.
 
Harbron, E.J.; Forbes, M.D.E. “Chemically-Induced Nuclear and Electron Polarization (CIDNP and CIDEP),” Chapter B1.17 of Encyclopedia of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry, IOP Press, 2001.
 
English, D.S.; Harbron, E.J.; Barbara, P.F. “Role of Rare Sites in Single Molecule Spectroscopy Measurements of Spectral Diffusion,” J. Chem. Phys. 2001, 114, 10479-10485.
 
English, D.S.; Harbron, E.J.; Barbara, P.F. “Probing Photoinduced Intersystem Crossing by Two-Color, Double Resonance Single Molecule Spectroscopy,” J. Phys. Chem. A 2000, 104, 9057-9061. 
 
Harbron, E.J.; McCaffrey, V.P.; Xu, R.; Forbes, M.D.E. “Stereochemistry and Pseudosymmetries in Main Chain Polymeric Free Radicals,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 9182-9188.
 
Dukes, K.E.; Harbron, E.J.; Forbes, M.D.E.; DeSimone, J.M. “Flow System and 9.5 GHz Microwave Resonators for Time-Resolved and Steady-State Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Compressed and Supercritical Fluids,” Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1997, 68, 2505-2510.