Faculty Profile: Dr. Joel Dopke
Joel Dopke always wanted to be a teacher and entered college planning on teaching high school chemistry and physics.
“As I came to learn more about chemistry and research, I decided to try to teach at the college level,” the assistant professor of chemistry says.
Dopke became interested in his specialty, inorganic chemistry, during his time as an undergraduate at St. Norbert College.
He continued his graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research interests include synthetic chemistry (making new molecules), organometallic chemistry, boron cluster chemistry and catalysis.
“I was able to do undergraduate research at Iowa State University with Dr. John Verkade on inorganic superbases,” he says. “From that point on, I was hooked on synthetic chemistry.”
Dopke came to Alma in 2007 after teaching at Mercer University in Georgia. He and his wife, Nancy Carter Dopke, share a joint position in the chemistry department.
“My favorite part of teaching at Alma is working with the students,” he says. “I was drawn to work at Alma because of the good reputation, students and research equipment. It’s also closer to our Midwest roots.”
Dopke was named to the Who's Who Among America's Teachers list in 2006. In his spare time, he enjoys volleyball, running, reading, watching bad movies and television, playing board games, and walking and playing with their dog.
