David R. Haines

David R. Haines is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Wellesley College. A member of the faculty since 1981, Professor Haines teaches courses in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry and Introductory Chemistry. His own research interests focus on the synthesis of nucleoside analogs with applications to antiviral and anticancer chemotherapy.

Professor Haines received his A.B. degree from Earlham College in 1976, with a major in chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981, having worked under Professor Nelson J. Leonard. During the academic year 1985-86, he served as a Visiting Scientist at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

Professor Haines and his undergraduate research students, and he has worked with more than 100, have published many articles and abstracts on their nucleoside analog research. He and his students regularly present their research at national chemistry conferences. He is on the national leadership group for the NSF-Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in Chemistry, and is the Co-Principal Investigator on the NSF-REU grant, which is supporting, in part, the Wellesley Chemistry Department summer research program. As a part of the leadership group, he has coordinated the NSF-REU Leadership Group undergraduate travel awards, and was a co-author on the NSF grant awarded in 2002 to continue these awards. He was also the Principal Investigator for the NSF-ILI grant, which allowed the Chemistry Department to purchase a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer for use in the undergraduate laboratories and research program.

Known for the quality of his teaching and work with research students, Professor Haines was a 1990 winner of Wellesleyıs Pinanski Prize for Excellence in Teaching. In the spring of 2002, he was invited to speak at the American Chemical Society meeting on "Constructing a Longitudinal Scientific Community for the Undergraduate Research Student." This talk was based on his extensive experience with undergraduate scientists in the research laboratory, and the connections that he has built between his current research students and the broad network of alumnae of his research group that has developed over the years. He has also served for many years on the Health Professions Advisory Committee, and is currently the Chair of the Minority Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Committee. He is also the Chemistry Department's First Year Student Advisor and the coordinator of the Chemistry Resource Room, which provides tutoring and academic advice to students.

Professor Haines has served for many years as the presiding clerk of the Archives and Historical Records Committee of the New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. His own library of Quaker history and manuscripts is among the most extensive collections of Quaker material in private hands in the world.

Profile last updated: 9/02