Professor Kasey Clear is our new organic chemist starting this fall, but he is no stranger to IU South Bend or teaching organic chemistry. Clear graduated from our campus in 2011 with a B.S. in Chemistry with a minor in Biological Sciences. In 2016, he earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame for his dissertation on synthetic sensors for biomembrane molecular recognition.
Clear then secured a teaching position as an assistant professor at Murray State University in Kentucky from 2016-2019. He primarily taught the standard two-semester organic chemistry sequence and a one-semester organic chemistry overview course, but he also taught a graduate-level organic chemistry course and introductory chemistry during this time. Clear also mentored ten undergraduate researchers in organic synthesis and anion recognition projects. Many of these students have presented their research at regional and national chemistry meetings, and several students have since moved on to chemistry and biochemistry Ph.D. programs, professional schools, and jobs in the chemical workforce. Clear's research program is in the area of supramolecular and bioorganic chemistry. In this, he designs and synthesizes organic molecules that bind to and act as sensors for biological molecules, particularly lipids. He will continue research on a sensor for a signaling lipid and begin work on a new synthetic receptor for the allergenic components in poison ivy and poison oak plants.
Outside of his academic pursuits, Clear enjoys time outdoors appreciating nature and all manner of creative endeavors including cooking, knitting, quilting, sewing, playing bass guitar and keyboard, and singing with his family's local music group, the Clear Family Singers. Sometimes these creative activities creep into his teaching when he decides to rewrite song lyrics (e.g. Bromine in the Jar, There Are Many Ways to React Alkenes) and poetry (e.g. Mercaptan, Mercaptan!) to illustrate chemistry concepts.
Clear loved his time as a student at IU South Bend and has many wonderful memories. He especially enjoyed working as supplemental instruction leader, tutor, and science team leader in the Academic Center for Excellence. But one of his favorite memories was Dr. Anderson's words of warning regarding potential future research subjects: namely, avoid studying lipids or anything anaerobic! He inadvertently forgot the first piece of advice before it was too late, but fortunately he has come to really enjoy studying lipids.
Kasey is very excited to be back in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and a part of the IU South Bend community!
