Dr. Jay Baltisberger

Nathaniel Southgate Shaler Memorial Chair in Geology and Chemistry,
Professor of Chemistry, and Faculty Athletics Representative
At Berea College since 1993

Contact Information

Margaret A. Cargill Natural Sciences and Health Building, 424
CPO 1722
Email: baltisbergerj@berea.edu
Phone: 859-985-3298

  • Jay Baltisberger

Spring 2022

Office Hours

Mon/Wed/Fri: (8 – 9:00 a.m.) (10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.) (3 – 4:00 p.m.)
Tues: 9 – Noon

Class Schedule

  • CHM 101 B (Mon/Wed/Fri: 1:20 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.)
  • CHM 222 A (Thur: 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) (Mon/Wed/Fri: 10:40 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.)
  • CHM 222 B (Mon/Wed/Fri: 10:40 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.) (Thur: 12:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.)
  • CHM 361 (Mon/Wed/Fri: 9:20 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.)

Biography

Jay Baltisberger was born in Ohio and raised in Grand Forks, ND for most of his youth. Jay loved computer programming, mathematics, and science as a high school student but also participated in theater, music, speech, and debate, winning state and national awards for various activities. Jay is fundamentally a wanderer and he decided to travel to Wabash College in Indiana for his undergraduate years, majoring in both physics and chemistry but spending many hours every week working as a scenic carpenter and lighting designer in the Ball Theater. Jay enjoyed doing undergraduate research (working at the ND Energy Research Center, the Idaho National Engineering Lab, and the University of Utah for three summers) and elected to continue his interest in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy working with Alex Pines at the University of California at Berkeley. For his graduate work, Jay focussed on dynamic-angle spinning NMR experiments designed to get high-resolution information about systems containing quadrupolar nuclei like O-17 or Rb-87. After attending Wabash College, Professor Baltisberger has always seen a huge value from a liberal arts education and upon finishing his Ph.D. he decided to pursue this as a career instead of heading down the R1 research path.

Professor Baltisberger arrived at Berea College in the fall of 1993 and was mentored by towering figures from the history of the chemistry program, Thomas Beebe, Larry Blair, and Lee Roecker. Jay worked hard in the early years to write research grant proposals and ultimately acquired a 300 MHz NMR spectrometer and a Jakobsen Magic-Angle Spinning probe. Professor Baltisberger has mentored many students over the years (details follow on his research page) and is excited to see them go on to advanced degrees in medicine and chemistry. Professor Baltisberger was promoted to full professor in 2011 and named the Nathaniel Southgate Shaler Memorial Chair in Geology and Chemistry. He continues to push for the inclusion of interdisciplinary work at Berea College including earth and geological science and biochemistry. Jay is an adamant supporter of social and economic justice both at Berea and beyond. He is committed to the institutional mission at Berea College and hopes to spend the rest of his career here.

Degrees

  • A.B., Wabash College, 1989
  • Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1993

Honors and Awards

  • Fulbright Research Scholar, ENS-Lyon, France working with Lyndon Emsley group (also affiliated with the CNRS in Lyon) doing dipolar decoupling, imaging and DAS experiments (fall 2001 – spring 2002).
  • American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Foundation Grant (Type C) ($60,000 awarded fall 2001, co-PI with Pamela Shapiro of University of Idaho).
  • National Science Foundation Instrumentation for Laboratory Instruction (ILI) Grant ($200,000 awarded spring 1998).
  • American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Foundation Startup Grant (Type GB) ($20,000 awarded spring 1997).
  • Research Corporation Cottrell College Startup Grant ($45,000 awarded spring 1995).
  • Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation Startup Grant ($10,000 awarded fall 1993).
  • NSF Graduate Fellowship to perform graduate study at University of California at Berkeley (fall 1989).
  • Macintosh Fellow awarded to top Wabash College seniors going to graduate school (spring 1989).
  • Technical Theater Awards for work at Wabash College Theater program (1988, 1989).

Affiliations

  • Phi Lambda Upsilon (undergraduate chemistry honor society)
  • American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • American Physical Society (APS)
  • National Council on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
  • Mineralogical Society of America (MSA)
  • Kentucky Academy of Science (KAS)
  • Project Kaleidoscope Faculty 21 Class of 95 (PKAL-F21)
  • Berea College Communication Across Campus IV (CAC4)
  • National Youth Science Camp Board of Advisors (NYSC-BOA)

Papers and Publications