RONALD L. CHRISTENSEN
Department of Chemistry
Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine 04011
(207) 725-3604
rchriste@bowdoin.edu

EDUCATION:

A.B. 1967 Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.
A.M. 1969 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ph.D. 1972 Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

1967-70 Teaching Fellow in undergraduate chemistry courses, Harvard University.
1970-72 Sanger Research Fellow, Harvard University.
1973-75 Research Fellow at the Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden, the Netherlands - low temperature studies of molecular crystals using high resolution optical spectroscopy, epr, and zero-field optical-magnetic double resonance.
1975-76 Research Fellow in Chemistry, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut- high resolution optical spectroscopy of linear polyenes.
1976-82 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Bowdoin College.
1980-82 Director, Bowdoin College Summer Course, Fluorescence Spectroscopy: Techniques and Applications.
1982-83 Visiting Professor, Royal Institution of Great Britain, London - time resolved fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy of synthetic polymers and biological membranes.
1982-88 Associate Professor of Chemistry, Bowdoin College.
1987-89 Chair, Department of Chemistry, Bowdoin College.
1988- Professor of Chemistry, Bowdoin College.
1989-90 Visiting Research Fellow in Department of Physical Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Australia. Visiting Professor, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki, Japan.
1993-95 Chair, Department of Chemistry, Bowdoin College.
1998 Visiting Professor, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London.
1999- James Stacy Coles Professor of Natural Sciences, Bowdoin College.
2000-03 Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the Sciences, Bowdoin College.
2003 American Chemical Society Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution.
2003-04 Visiting Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut.
2005-06 Program Director, Division of Chemistry, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, the National Science Foundation

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

"Symmetry Control of Radiative Decay in Linear Polyenes: Low Barriers for Isomerization in the S1 State of Hexadecaheptaene"
Ronald L. Christensen, Mary Grace I. Galinato, Emily F. Chu, Ritsuko Fujii, Hideki Hashimoto, and Harry A. Frank, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129 (6), 1769 -1775, 2007.
Abstract

"Synthesis of Oligoenes that Contain up to 15 Double Bonds from 1,6-Heptadiynes"
Constantin Czekelius, Jillian Hafer, Zachary J. Tonzetich, Richard R. Schrock, Ronald L. Christensen, and Peter Müller, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128 (51), 16664 -16675, 2006.
Abstract

"Femtosecond Time-Resolved Absorption Spectroscopy of Astaxanthin in Solution and in α-Crustacyanin," R.P. Ilagan, R.L. Christensen, T.W. Clapp, G.N. Gibson, T. Pascher, T. Polivka, and H.A. Frank, Journal of Physical Chemistry A 109, 3120-3127 (2005).
Abstract Full Article: HTML / PDF (657k)

“Optical Spectroscopy of Long Polyenes,” R.L. Christensen, A Faksh, J. Meyers, I.F.W. Samuel, P. Wood, K. Hultzsch, and R.R. Schrock, Journal of Physical Chemistry A 108, 8229-8236 (2004).

“Linear Polyenes: Models for the Spectroscopy and Photophysics of Carotenoids,” R. L. Christensen, E. A. Barney, R. D. Broene, M. G. I. Galinato, and H. A. Frank, Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 430, 30-36 (2004).

"Spectroscopic and Photochemical Properties of Open-Chained Carotenoids," H.A. Frank, J.S. Josue, J.A. Bautista, I. van der Hoef, F.J. Jansen, J. Lugtenburg, G. Wiederrecht, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Physical Chemistry B 106, 2083-2092 (2002).

"Conformational Disorder in Long Polyenes," P. Wood, I.D.W. Samuel, R. Schrock, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Chemical Physics 115, 10955-10963 (2001).

"The Electronic States of Carotenoids," R.L. Christensen in The Photochemistry of Carotenoids, H.A. Frank, A.J. Young, G. Britton, and R.J. Cogdell (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp.137-160 (1999).

"The Rotationally Resolved Electronic Spectra of all-trans-Octatetraene and its Derivatives," J.F. Pfanstiel, D.W. Pratt, B.A. Tounge, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Physical Chemistry A 103, 2337-2347 (1999).

"S1 and S2 States of Apo- and Diapocarotenes," R.L. Christensen, M. Goyette, L. Gallagher, J. Duncan, B. DeCoster, J. Lugtenburg, F.J. Jansen, and I. van der Hoef, Journal of Physical Chemistry A 103, 2399-2407 (1999).

"Time-Resolved Luminescence Anisotropy Studies of the Relaxation Behavior of Polymers. 1. Intramolecular Segmental Relaxation of Poly(methyl methacrylate) and Poly(methacrylate) in Dilute Solutions in Dichloromethane," I. Souter, L. Swanson, R.L. Christensen, R.C. Drake, and D. Phillips, Macromolecules 29, 4931-4936 (1996).

"One- and Two-photon Fluorescence Excitation Spectra of the 21Ag States of Linear Tetraenes in Free Jet Expansions," H. Petek, A.J. Bell, Y.S. Choi, K. Yoshihara, B.A. Tounge, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Chemical Physics 102, 4726 (1995).

"Singlet Energy Transfer from Carotenoids to Bacteriochlorophylls," H.A. Frank and R.L. Christensen, in Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria (R.E. Blankenship, M.T. Madigan, and C.E. Bauer, eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp.373-384 (1995).

"A New Homogeneous Assay System for Specific Nucleic Acid Sequences: poly-dA and poly-A Detection," C.B. Bagwell, M E. Munson, R.L. Christensen, and E.J. Lovett, Nucleic Acids Research 22, 2424 (1994).

"Evidence for quantization of the transition state for cis-trans isomerization," Y.S. Choi, T.-S. Kim, H. Petek, K. Yoshihara, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Chemical Physics 100, 9269 (1994).

"The 21Ag State of trans,trans-1,3,5,7-octatetraene in Free Jet Expansions," H. Petek, A.J. Bell, Y.S. Choi, K. Yoshihara, B. Tounge, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Chemical Physics 98, 3777 (1993).

"Carotenoid-to-Bacteriochlorophyll Singlet Energy Transfer in Carotenoid-Incorporated B850 Light-Harvesting Complexes of Rhodobacter Sphaeroides R26.1," H.A. Frank, R. Farhoosh, M. Aldema, B. DeCoster, R.L. Christensen, R. Gebhard, and J. Lugtenburg, Photochemistry and Photobiology 57, 49 (1993).

"Low Lying Electronic States of Carotenoids," B. DeCoster, R.L. Christensen, R. Gebhard, J. Lugtenburg, R. Farhoosh, and H. Frank, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1102, 107 (1992).

"Vibrational Spectroscopy and Picosecond Dynamics of Gaseous Trienes and Tetraenes in S1 and S2 Electronic States," H. Petek, A.J. Bell, R.L. Christensen, and K. Yoshihara, SPIE 1638 (Optical Methods for Time- and State-Resolved Chemistry), 345 (1992).

"Spectroscopy and Dynamics of a Model Polyene Decatetraene: A Study of Non-Radiative Pathways in S1 and S2 States under Isolated Conditions," H. Petek, A.J. Bell, H. Kandori, K. Yoshihara, and R.L. Christensen, in Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy V; H. Takahashi, Ed.; Springer-Verlag; Berlin. p. 198 (1992).

"Fluorescence Excitation Spectra of the S1 States of Isolated Trienes," H. Petek, A.J. Bell, R.L. Christensen, and K. Yoshihara, Journal of Chemical Physics 96, 2412 (1992).

"Spectroscopic and Dynamical Studies of the S1 and S2 states of Decatetraene in Supersonic Molecular Beams," H. Petek, A. Bell, K. Yoshihara, and R. Christensen, Journal of Chemical Physics 95, 4739 (1991).

"Electronic Relaxation in Long Polyenes," S.A. Cosgrove, M.A. Guite, T.B. Burnell, and R.L. Christensen, Journal of Physical Chemistry 94, 8118 (1990).

"Fluorescence of Gaseous Tetraenes and Pentaenes," W. Bouwman, A. Jones, D. Phillips, P. Thibodeau, C. Friel, and R. Christensen, Journal of Physical Chemistry 94, 7429 (1990).

"Effects of Hydrogen Bonding on the Low Lying Electronic States of a Model Polyene Aldehyde," J. Papanikolas, G. Walker, V. Shamamian, J.C. Baum, and R. Christensen, Journal of the American Chemical Society 112, 1912 (1990).