Draft:Tamara Powers

Tamara M. Powers, an American inorganic chemist, serves as an Instructional Associate Professor at the Texas A&M University. Her academic interests span from laboratory instruction and flipped lectures to active learning. Since September 2015, Powers has been an integral part of the Texas A&M University community, with her teaching portfolio encompassing Inorganic Chemistry, Chemistry and Society Writing Seminar, First Year Seminar, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, Contemporary Issues in Science, and Symmetry & Group Theory in Chemistry. Notably, she is married to David C. Powers, who is the Associate Head of Undergraduate Studies at Texas A&M University. Beyond her professional endeavors, Powers finds joy in playing with and training her dog.

Education
Powers earned her B.A. in Chemistry, summa cum laude with departmental honors, in 2008 from Franklin & Marshall College. She then went on to Harvard to earn her Master's and Ph.D while working in the laboratory of Professor Theodore Betley in Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Following this she worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Roy Gordon''', where she worked on synthesizing divalent first-row transition metals (ALD precursors).

Teaching Career
Beginning in the fall of 2014, Powers embarked on her journey in education. At Harvard, she assumed the role of Chemistry Department Teaching Fellow and later became the Head Teaching Fellow for the general chemistry curriculum. Throughout a span of four years, Powers consistently showcased exemplary teaching practices, particularly in Inorganic Chemistry education. Feedback from students enrolled in both CHEM433 and CHEM481 at Texas A&M Chemistry Courses underscores her exceptional abilities. Creating a nurturing and supportive classroom atmosphere, Powers exhibits remarkable patience, fostering an environment where students feel comfortable seeking guidance. Testimonials extracted from course evaluations highlight her effective teaching methodologies, which prioritize probing for prior knowledge, guiding students through challenging concepts, and instilling a sense of ownership in their learning journey. Emphasizing critical thinking and refraining from judgment, Powers demonstrates a genuine commitment not only to what students learn but also to how they learn. She currently teaches a wide variety of STEM classes at Texas A&M, including the advanced inorganic chemistry lab(CHEM 433), the "Contemporary Issues in Sciences"(SCEN 102 & SCEN 102) Classes, and the inorganic chemistry lecture (CHEM 362.)

Awards

 * Fieser Award – June 2013
 * Taihi Hong Memorial Graduate Student Education Abroad – February 2012
 * Christensen Prize for Outstanding Research Achievement – January 2011
 * Novartis Graduate Fellowship in Chemical Sciences for Minorities and Women – November 2010
 * Southeastern Pennsylvania Section, American Chemical Society Award – May 2008
 * W.E. Weisgerber Chemistry – May 2008
 * Wittig Pentathlon Chemistry Prize – May 2008
 * Schappell Scholar – August 2007
 * American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award – May 2007
 * Annie and Ernest Weibrecht Award in Chemistry – May 2007
 * Snavely Research Award – May 2007
 * Moore Mentorship – July 2004

Publications
Yoder, C. H.; Agee, T. M.; Schaeffer, C. D.; Carroll, M. J.; Fleisher, A. J.; DeToma, A. S. Use of 73 GE NMR Spectroscopy for the Study of Electronic Interactions. Inorganic Chemistry 2008, 47 (22), 10765–10770. DOI:10.1021/ic801341t.

Kuppuswamy, S.; Cooper, B. G.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Powers, T. M.; Thomas, C. M. Synthesis and Structural Characterization of High Spin m/Cu (M = Mn, Fe) Heterobimetallic and Fe/Cu2 Trimetallic Phosphinoamides. Inorganic Chemistry 2012, 51 (3), 1866–1873. DOI:10.1021/ic202165z.

Powers, T. M.; Fout, A. R.; Zheng, S.-L.; Betley, T. A. Oxidative Group Transfer to a Triiron Complex to Form a Nucleophilic μ3-Nitride, [Fe3(μ3-n)]−. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2011, 133 (10), 3336–3338. DOI:10.1021/ja2003445.

Kuppuswamy, S.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Powers, T. M.; Turnbull, M. M.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Utilization of Phosphinoamide Ligands in Homobimetallic Fe and Mn Complexes: The Effect of Disparate Coordination Environments on Metal–Metal Interactions and Magnetic and Redox Properties. Inorganic Chemistry 2012, 51 (15), 8225–8240. DOI:10.1021/ic300776y.

Kuppuswamy, S.; Powers, T. M.; Johnson, B. M.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Brozek, C. K.; Foxman, B. M.; Berben, L. A.; Thomas, C. M. Metal–Metal Interactions in c3-Symmetric Diiron Imido Complexes Linked by Phosphinoamide Ligands. Inorganic Chemistry 2012, 52 (9), 4802–4811. DOI:10.1021/ic302108k.

Powers, T. M.; Betley, T. A. Testing the Polynuclear Hypothesis: Multielectron Reduction of Small Molecules by Triiron Reaction Sites. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2013, 135 (33), 12289–12296. DOI:10.1021/ja405057n.

Powers, T. M.; Gu, N. X.; Fout, A. R.; Baldwin, A. M.; Hernández Sánchez, R.; Alfonso, D. M.; Chen, Y.-S.; Zheng, S.-L.; Betley, T. A. Synthesis of Open-Shell, Bimetallic Mn/Fe Trinuclear Clusters. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2013, 135 (38), 14448–14458. DOI:10.1021/ja408003d.

Powers, D. C.; Anderson, B. L.; Hwang, S. J.; Powers, T. M.; Pérez, L. M.; Hall, M. B.; Zheng, S.-L.; Chen, Y.-S.; Nocera, D. G. Photocrystallographic Observation of Halide-Bridged Intermediates in Halogen Photoeliminations. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2014, 136 (43), 15346–15355. DOI:10.1021/ja508218v.

Campbell, M. G.; Powers, T. M.; Zheng, S.-L. Teaching with the Case Study Method to Promote Active Learning in a Small Molecule Crystallography Course for Chemistry Students. Journal of Chemical Education 2015, 93 (2), 270–274. DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00629.

Hernández Sánchez, R.; Bartholomew, A. K.; Powers, T. M.; Ménard, G.; Betley, T. A. Maximizing Electron Exchange in a [Fe3] Cluster. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2016, 138 (7), 2235–2243. DOI:10.1021/jacs.5b12181.

Kim, S. B.; Yang, C.; Powers, T.; Davis, L. M.; Lou, X.; Gordon, R. G. Synthesis of Calcium(Ii) Amidinate Precursors for Atomic Layer Deposition through a Redox Reaction between Calcium and Amidines. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2016, 55 (35), 10228–10233. DOI:10.1002/anie.201602406.

Kuppuswamy, S.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Powers, T. M.; Wilding, M. J.; Brozek, C. K.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. A Series of C3-Symmetric Heterobimetallic CR–M (M = Fe, Co and Cu) Complexes. Chemical Science 2014, 5 (4), 1617. DOI:10.1039/c3sc52943f.

Kuppuswamy, S.; Powers, T. M.; Krogman, J. P.; Bezpalko, M. W.; Foxman, B. M.; Thomas, C. M. Vanadium–Iron Complexes Featuring Metal–Metal Multiple Bonds. Chemical Science 2013, 4 (9), 3557. DOI:10.1039/c3sc51337h.

Yoder, C. H.; Agee, T. M.; Griffith, A. K.; Schaeffer, C. D.; Carroll, M. J.; DeToma, A. S.; Fleisher, A. J.; Gettel, C. J.; Rheingold, A. L. Use of73GE NMR Spectroscopy and X-Ray Crystallography for the Study of Electronic Interactions in Substituted Tetrakis(Phenyl)-, -(Phenoxy)-, and -(Thiophenoxy)Germanes. Organometallics 2010, 29 (3), 582–590. DOI:10.1021/om900905c.

Powers, T. Jove Science Education Inorganic Chemistry Video Series: Structure of Ferrocene Academic Article. https://vivo.library.tamu.edu/vivo/display/n531753SE (accessed 2024-03-23).

Selected Publications

 * Cosio, M.; Cardenal, A. D.; Maity, A.; Hyun, S.-M.; Akwaowo, V.; Hoffman, C.; Powers, T. M.*; Powers, D. C.* "Exploring Green Chemistry with Aerobic Hypervalent Iodine Catalysis." J. Chem. Ed. 2020, 97, 3816.
 * JoVE Science Education Inorganic Chemistry Video Series, Oct. 2017, Journal of Visual Experiments
 * Campbell, M. G.; Powers, T. M.; Zheng, S.-L. Teaching with the Case Study Method to Promote Active Learning in a Small Molecule Crystallography Course for Chemistry Students. J. Chem. Ed. 2016, 93, 270.