Faculty Bio

Richard Hark

Chair, Chemistry Department|Professor of Chemistry

Office Location: VLCS 2063
Phone Number: 814-641-3740

Personal Website: http://faculty.juniata.edu/hark/

Dr. Hark came to Juniata in the fall of 2001 from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, where he served as assistant professor of chemistry from 1993 to 2000. He was promoted to associate professor at Marietta in 2000 and full professor in 2007. Dr. Hark earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., in 1984 where he worked with Andrew Kende on the synthesis of antineoplastic agents. He went on to earn a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996.

His graduate work involved a project with K. C. Nicolaou directed at the synthesis of a complex marine natural product, Brevetoxin A. He completed his doctoral studies with Madeleine Joullié where he synthesized a large number of novel ninhydrin analogs as reagents for visualizing latent fingerprints on porous surfaces. The latter studies were supported by and conducted in conjunction with the United States Secret Service. This effort led to Dr. Hark's continuing interest in forensic science and previous collaborations with scientists from the London Metropolitan Police Laboratory and the Israel National Police.

While at Marietta, Dr. Hark served as director of the Honors Program from 1999 to 2001. He also worked briefly as an instructor at Haverford College in Haverford, Pa., in 1990 and at Widener College in Chester, Pa. in 1989. He received the Marietta College Outstanding Faculty Award in 2000 and the Edward G. Harness Fellowship for Distinctive Teaching in 1998. He received the Juniata College Outstanding Faculty Award in 2004 and the Henry H. '57 and Joan R. Gibbel Award for Teaching Excellence in 2007.

His work has been published in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Organic Chemistry, the Canadian Journal of Chemistry, the Journal of Forensic Identification and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Hark has served on a number of professional and academic committees. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Organic and Chemical Education Division, the American Academy of Forensic Science, the International Association for Identification, and the Optics Society of America. He is also a certified hazardous materials technician and volunteers with the local county emergency management agency.

Dr. Hark's current research interests include the synthesis of antibacterial peptide inhibitors, the development of latent fingerprint visualization reagents, and the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to the analysis of art, artifacts, and items of forensic interest. In addition to teaching introductory and advanced level organic chemistry he teaches The Chemistry of Art and a Forensic Science Laboratory course.

Dr. Hark is originally from the Buffalo, NY area. He has lived abroad in Finland and traveled to Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Israel, Morocco, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Richard and his wife, Memory, have five children.