Bonnie Huge (pictured left with her family)
Bonnie Huge is a new adjunct professor for our department this semester teaching the freshman laboratory CHEM-C 121 Elementary Chemistry Laboratory in the evening. But she is not new to IU South Bend because she earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from our department. Since then she studied further and earned a Ph.D. degree at the University of Notre Dame where she now works as a research scientist. Huge's research focuses on developing capillary electrophoresis based approaches and instrumentation. These developments are applied to the challenge of separating the complex mixtures of microorganisms present in microbiomes in order to increase our understanding of these crucial inhabitants.
Lacy Buck (middle picture in her high school classroom)
Lacy Buck is not a new adjunct professor, but returns to us after several years during which she lived and worked in Arizona. She and her family just couldn't give up being Hoosiers and their extended family so they came back to their roots in Indiana. Buck used to teach our freshman general education course CHEM-N 190 Natural World, but now she is teaching the freshman laboratory CHEM-C 121 in the evening, like Huge. Also, like Huge, Buck is an alumna of our campus and department. During the day, Buck teaches high school at Plymouth High School which includes teaching CHEM-C 101 and C121 for ACP dual credit to better prepare students for science majors' college chemistry at IU South Bend and other campuses.
Bob Schaeper (pictured right)
Bob Schaeper received his Ph.D. in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry in 1987 from the University of Notre Dame. He then immediately began work at Miles Laboratories in Elkhart which eventually became Bayer HealthCare and then was purchased by Siemens. Schaeper has worked in research/development, product support, quality control, and management - most notably as senior manager of the entire Mishawaka Quality Assurance Department. Schaeper currently works with Stryker Corporation - one of the world's leading medical technology companies - but plans to retire from industry soon. His grown children all have higher degrees in STEM fields. Schaeper coached junior high and high school softball with his teams going to the World Series in Delaware for an unprecedented 10 of 11 straight years, winning twice in a row and placing in the top three several times. Schaeper started teaching with us during the pandemic this past spring. He teaches our science majors' laboratories CHEM-C 125/126 Principles of Chemistry Laboratory I/II.
