Read more...

Bridget Gourley, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been a member of DePauw’s faculty since 1988 and has served in a wide range of leadership roles including coordinator of the First Year Advising Program, director of the Women in Science Program, director of the Science Research Fellows Program, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, chair of the Committee on Faculty, chair of the Faculty, chair of the Resource Allocation Subcommittee, and member of the Campus Climate Task Force. For the past four years, Dr. Gourley has also served as DePauw’s dean of the faculty.  

As a physical chemist, Dr. Gourley is interested in the interactions of light and matter. Her most recent project in this area, supported by a National Science Foundation award, is entitled “Collaborative Research: Unraveling interactions that drive water-osmolyte interactions in confinement and impact self-assembly.” In addition to her scholarship and teaching in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr. Gourley has also taught several first-year seminars and has mentored more than 50 students in her laboratory, conducting undergraduate research projects as well as serving as the faculty advisor to Students of Color in STEM.

Nationally, Dr. Gourley has a steady stream of publications and presentations. She has had multiple leadership roles with the Council on Undergraduate Research and her work has significant support from various funding agencies and several National Science Foundation awards.