Meet a Roadrunner: Michael Doyle wants to increase the visibility of the chemistry dept.
Michael Doyle
Michael Doyle
Share this Story(Mar. 18, 2015) -- Meet Michael Doyle. He joined UTSA this semester as the Rita and John Feik Distinguished University Chair in Medicinal Chemistry.
Doyle is returning to the Alamo City. He taught at Trinity University in the mid 80s. Along the way, he served as a vice president of a science foundation, Research Corporation, and as professor at the University of Arizona before moving to the University of Maryland as a department chair, where he learned about research opportunities in federal laboratories.
A renowned scholar with more than 30 years experience in catalysis, Doyle is recognized for developing a processing system that is used prominently today in the development of pharmaceuticals. Catalysts increase chemical reaction rates.
Doyle joined UTSA to help take the chemistry department to the next level. He is the fourth endowed professor in a department of 16 faculty members. He is also among the first hires under UTSA's GoldStar Initiative, which aims to recruit top faculty members to UTSA in key disciplines.
“When I came to visit, I saw an institution with a lot of promise and a chemistry department that was moving forward very quickly,” said Doyle. ”I want to help bring more visibility and notoriety to UTSA and the department, and build on its reputation of research and teaching.”
Doyle has also received several distinguished awards for mentoring undergraduates to publish research. More than 150 of his undergraduate students have had their work published, and a number of his students and research associates have gone on to become professors at major universities in the U.S., Europe and China.
“What you have is a tiered structure where the senior students help train the junior students and by that process you go on to build a culture,” said Doyle.
Although he has only been at UTSA a few months, Doyle is already assisting the department to grow its doctoral programs and streamline its undergraduate curriculum. As a member of the American Chemical Society, Doyle recommended changes to the undergraduate curriculum that are helping improve graduation numbers and retention rates, nationwide.
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