Benjamin F. Plummer, Ph.D.

Dr. Plummer retired from teaching in 1999 and from research in 2001. He joined Trinity University in 1967 as an assistant professor after spending 4 years as assistant professor at South Dakota State. He rose through the ranks to become full professor in 1976. He was named Chairman of Chemistry from 1976-1980 when he chose to return to teaching and research. He was recognized as a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Scholar in 1993-1994 and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Senior Scientist in 1998. He was chosen to be a temporary grant officer in chemical dynamics at the National Science Foundation in 1994-1995 where he managed a multimillion dollar budget. He was awarded over 2 million dollars in grants from various foundations and mentored 100 undergraduate research students and seven Post Doctoral fellows. He published the textbook Selected Principles of Organic Chemistry in 1968. He published 48 refereed articles and presented more than 50 scientific talks in various conferences and universities.

Areas of Expertise

• Physical Organic Chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Molecular Orbital Theory
• UV-Visible Spectroscopy 
• NMR and Mass Spectroscopy 
• Linear and MCD spectroscopy 
• Organic Synthesis

Professional Achievements and Contributions

• Original work on the Heavy Atom Effect in Photochemistry 
• Expert in synthesis of Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds
• Co Author on seminal article on melatonin as a radical scavenger