Chemistry Department

Liz U. Gron, Ph.D.

Gron Liz 2023-5558 FINAL - Crop-web

Liz U. Gron, Ph.D.

Executive Director of Advising and Academic Success

Professor of Chemistry

gron@hendrix.edu Student Life and Technology Center - Room 206 (501) 450-1246 Green Chemistry at Hendrix

Academic Background

  • B.A., Colgate University, 1982
  • Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1987

2020-2021 Courses

  • CHEM 120: General Chemistry II: Chemical Analysis & Reactivity
  • CHEM 440: Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
  • CHEM 450: Directed Research

Research and Teaching Interests

  • Green Chemistry

Advising Specialties

  • Chemistry

Affiliations

  • American Chemical Society, Inorganic Division, since 1983.

    • Session Chair
      • Catalysis Section A, 206th ACS National Meeting, Chicago 1993
      • Catalysis Section D, 215th ACS National Meeting, Dallas 1998
    • Committee for National Chemistry Week - Milwaukee Section of ACS, 1988
  • American Association for the Advancement of Science: since 1988.
  • Council on Undergraduate Research: since 1994.
  • Project Kaleidoscope: Member of Faculty for the 21st Century and presenter at numerous workshops

  • Gordon Research Conferences

    • "Environmental Benign Organic Synthesis," Poster Session Chair, July 1996
    • "Organometallic Chemistry," July 1998, July 1999
    • "Chemical Education," January 2001
  • Greener Educational Materials Network – Ambassador Site: representative and founding member

Awards and Honors

  • Green Chemistry: Diels-Alder Reactions in High Temperature Water, The Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, awarded May 2004.
  • A Proposal to Strengthen the Physical Sciences at Hendrix College through Research and Recruitment Research Corporation, L. U. Gron (PI), Co-PIs David Hales, Robert Dunn, and Ann Wright, Research Corporation, awarded May 2004.
  • Educating Green Citizens and Scientists for a Sustainable Future; Liz U. Gron (PI), with M. Warfield Teague (co-PI), National Science Foundation –DUE-CCLI-Phase I, awarded May 2007.

Publications (undergraduate co-authors are bolded)

  • "How to recognize success and failure: Practical assessment of a laboratory program for teaching green, analytical skills to first-year students," L. U. Gron, S. B. Bradley, J. R. McKenzie , S. E. Williams , and M. W. Teague  J. Chem. Ed. 2013 , 694-699.
  • "Effect of garlic-derived organosulfur compounds on mitochondrial function and integrity in isolated mouse liver mitochondria," A. A. Caro, L. W. Adlong , S. J. Crocker , M. W. Gardner , E. F. Luikart , L. U. Gron, Toxicology Letters , 214, 2012 , 166-174 .
  • "Green analytical chemistry: Application and education," Liz U. Gron, In Green Chemistry Education: Changing the Course of Chemistry ; Anastas, P. T., Levy, I. J., Parent, K. E.; Ed . ACS Symposium Series #1011, American Chemical Society: Washington, 2009, pp 103-116.
  • "Sustain the green revolution: educating scientists and citizens," L. U. Gron, Chimica Oggi,/Chemistry Today , 25, 2007, 11-13.
  • “Creating research-rich curriculum with an integrated upper-level undergraduate laboratory program,” L. U. Gron, D. A. Hales, and M. W. Teague, J. Chem. Ed. 2007, 1343-1347.
  •  "Green analytical methodologies," L. H. Keith, L. U. Gron, and J. L. Young Chem. Rev. 107, 2007 , 2695-2708.
  • "Hendrix Chemistry Labs Show Their True Color " L. Rodwell, T. Goodwin, and L. Gron HENDRIX: A Magazine for Alumni and Friends, 16, 2003, 14-17.
  • "Heck reactions in hydrothermal, sub-critical water: water density as an important reaction variable," L. U. Gron, J. E. LaCroix , C. J. Higgins , K. L. Steelman , A. S. TinsleyTetrahedron Letters , 40(49), 2001, 8555-8557.
  • "Tailoring Aqueous Solvents for Organic Reactions: Heck Coupling Reactions in High Temperature Water," L. U. Gron and A. S. Tinsley   Tetrahedron Letters, 40(2) , 1999, 227-230.

Presentations

  • Educating environmentally responsible citizens and scientists through green, environmental chemistry with Warfield Teague and Shelly Bradley,American Chemical Society, San Diego, CA, March 2005.
  • “Where do we go from here: Educating Green Citizens and Scientists”invited talk,Green Chemistry and Engineering Education Workshop, Chemical Sciences Roundtable, National Academies of Science, Washington, DC November 2005.

Hendrix College names 2026 Faculty Award Winners

April 28, 2026 – Each year at Honors Day Convocation, Hendrix College recognizes its faculty award winners. This year’s recipients, Dr. David Hales, Dr. Lilian Contreras-Silva, and Dr. Laura MacDonald, were celebrated during the April 23 ceremony.

Read the Full Story

Counseling Services launches fall Tuesday Talks series

September 5, 2025 – Hendrix College Counseling Services invites students, faculty, and staff to join Tuesday Talks, a weekly lunchtime speaker series exploring resilience and growth through life’s challenges.

Read the Full Story

Hendrix students explore environmental justice in second year of LEAP Program

August 14, 2025 – From July 20-26, 18 Hendrix College students participated in the second year of the Leadership in Environmental Analysis for the People (LEAP) program, led by professors Courtney Hatch ’00 (Chemistry) and Brett Hill (Sociology/Anthropology).

Read the Full Story