David Magers                               David H. Magers, Ph.D. 
                              Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry 
                              Mississippi College
                              Hederman Science Buiding, Room 418
                              (601) 925-3851
                              Fax: (601) 925-3933
                              E-mail:   magers@mc.edu
                              The Computational Chemistry Group Home Page:   CCG
                              Courses Taught and Current Course Syllabi:  courses




Family
David and his wife, Tina, live in Clinton, Mississippi, with their two sons, Brandon and Andrew, and their four cocker spaniels, Merlin, Magic, Rocket, and Spencer.  Tina works as an Education Coordinator and is the Nurse Intern Director at the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center.  She is also very involved with pet therapy at the Baptist where she was one of the founders of the program with Merlin.   Brandon is a 22 year old senior Chemistry and Math double major at MC.   He currently serves as the President of Civitan Men's Club and the Student Affiliate Chapter of the American Chemical Society.   Andrew is a 19 year old sophomore Chemistry major at MC.   He currently serves as the Chaplin of Civitan Men's Club.  Both are also members of the CCG.   Click here for pictures:   Family          

Areas of Specialization: 
Quantum chemistry, molecular electronic structure and spectra, many-body theory and ab initio many-body methods

Academic Interests:
Molecular force fields and reaction surfaces                 Dynamics of chemical reactions and isomerizations
Theory of electronic structure                                       Methods of treating electronic correlation
Accurate calculation of molecular properties                 Models for determining the strain energy in heterocycles
Dialog between science and religion

Education:
Postdoctoral  Research Fellow in theoretical inorganic chemistry,  Harvard University, 1988-1989
Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry with a double minor in mathematics and physics, University of Florida, 1988
B.S. in chemistry with a minor in physics, Mississippi College, 1982

Positions:
Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mississippi College, 2001-present
Director of  the Computational Chemistry Research Group, 1994-present
Visiting Research Professor, Jackson State University, Summer, 2008
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Computer Systems Manager, Mississippi College, 1995-present
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Mississippi College, 1995-2001
Visiting Professor of Chemistry, University of West Florida, Summer 1996
Visiting Professor of Chemistry, Jackson  State University, Summer 1994 and Summer 1995
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science, Mississippi College,  1989-1995
Research Group Computer  Systems Manager (Microvax/VMS), Harvard University, 1988-1989

Professional Scientific Organization Affiliations:
American Chemical Society
        Division of Physical Chemistry
            Subdivision of Theoretical Chemistry
        Current Treasurer - Mississippi Section
American Physical Society
        Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
        Southeastern Section
Council on Undergraduate Research
Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
Mississippi Academy of Sciences
        Past Chairman of the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Scholarships and Awards:
Civitan Men’s Club of Mississippi College Faculty Member of the Year, 2008
H.E.A.D.W.A.E. (Higher Education Appreciation Day - Working for Academic Excellence),
       State of Mississippi, Mississippi College Faculty Honoree, 2006
Mississippi College Distinguished Professor of the Year, 2005.
Chemist of the Year, Mississippi Section of the American Chemical Society, 2003.
Arts and Sciences Distinguished Lecturer, Mississippi College, 2003.
Who’s Who in Science and Engineering 1996/1997.
Outstanding Young Men of America, 1990.

Grants Received:
“Structural Energetics and Analysis”
         Edward J. Valente (PI/PD), G. Reid Bishop, and David H. Magers
         W.M. Keck Foundation, $300,000 (January, 2005 - December, 2007).
“An MRI/RUI proposal for a 32-processor Beowulf cluster for the calculation of molecular properties:
  Application of ab initio and density functional methods to quantitative structure thermodynamic relationships”
        David H. Magers (PI/PD) and G. Reid Bishop
        Major Research Instrumentation in conjunction with the Research at Undergraduate Institution office at the National Science Foundation
        $73,825 (September, 2003 - September, 2005).
“Folding and binding energetics of DNA aptamers”
        G. Reid Bishop (PI/PD), David H. Magers, and Edward J. Valente
        Biotechnology Research Initiative for the Mississippi Functional Genomics Network from the National Institute of Health
        $29,997 (October, 2003 - September, 2004).
“A New Computational Chemistry Cluster”
        Jerzy Leszczynski. Ming-Ju Huang, and John D. Watts (Jackson State University),
        Steven R. Davis and Gregory S. Tschumper (University of Mississippi),
        David H. Magers (Mississippi College),
        Ras Pandey (University of Southern Mississippi),
        Svein Saebo (Mississippi State University)
       National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program, $127,500 to Mississippi College (May 15, 2002 - October 31, 2005).
"Establishment of a Computational Chemistry Cluster"
        Jerzy Leszczynski (Jackson State University), Steven Davis (University of Mississippi),
        David Magers (Mississippi College), Svein Saebo (Mississippi State University), and
        Richard Sullivan (Jackson State University)
        National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program, $122,500 total / $24,500 each (January 1, 1997-July 31, 1998)
                                                                                   $150,000 total / $30,000 each (August 1, 1998-July 31, 1999)
                                                                                   $600,000 total / $120,000 each (March 1, 1999-February 28, 2002)
"Small Heterocycle Structure and Reactivity Problems:  Paths to Prepare and Degrade Oxaziridine and Analogs"  
        David H. Magers
        Research Corporatin Cottrell College Science Award, $17,232, (May 2, 1997- May 1, 1999)
"Knowing and Believing:  Epistemological Perspectives on Science and Religion"
        David H. Magers and John T. Meadors
        The John Templeton Foundation Science and Religion Course Program, $10,000, (1997-1998)
"Enhanced Thermochemical Laboratories for a Modern Chemistry Curriculum"
        David H. Magers
        National Science Foundation Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement Grant, $15,238, (July 1992-December1994)

Courses Taught:
      Chemistry and Biochemistry
                   General Inorganic Chemistry I and II
                   Chemistry in American Life I and II
                   Basic Chemical Principles
                   Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry
                   Investigations in Inorganic Chemistry
                   Chemical Dynamics (Physical Chemistry I)
                   Chemical Energetics (Physical Chemistry II)
                   Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
                   Theoretical Chemistry
                   Chemistry Seminar
                   Chemistry Literature
                   Topics in Inorganic Chemistry
                   Topics in Physical Chemistry
      Computer Science
                   FORTRAN Programming
                   Discrete Structures
      Mathematics
                   College Algebra
                   Trigonometry
                   Elementary Statistics
                   Calculus IV
                   Differential Equations
                   Introduction to Linear Algebra
      Physics
                   Fundamentals of Physics I and II
                   Modern Physics
                   Thermodynamics
                   General Physics II
      Interdisciplinary
                   Knowing and Believing: Epistemological Perspectives on Science and Religion

Current Course Syllabi:
             Basic Chemical Principles
             Chemical Dynamics
                         

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