L. Tracey Gao

About me

I have obtained my Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and my B.S. degree in Chemistry from a teacher’s college (East China Normal University) in Shanghai, China. Teaching has always been my interest and passion. I truly enjoyed my teaching time throughout my study and career. In my senior year in the teacher’s college, I taught AP chemistry in a local high school. During my Ph.D. years, I led General Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry discussion sessions and lectured on laboratory courses at the college level and I also supervised undergraduate students to conduct research projects. During my career in the R&D department of an S&P 500 pharmaceutical company, I served as a scientific/technical lead and intra-division liaison to contribute to the drug development for antibiotics and antidepressants. In that position, I also trained and supervised junior chemists tasked with developing and troubleshooting analytical methods and utilizing new instruments.

From all these experiences, I learned that one important thing for teaching is to always present new knowledge in a fun way to engage the students. I hope to bring that in my teaching in Schoolnova to motivate our young children to learn chemistry.