William Kennerly

Senior Teaching Professor of Chemistry

Office: CIS 310C
Phone: 518-580-5131
Email: wkennerl@skidmore.edu 

At Skidmore since 2011

Expanded webpage, with more information

Education

• B.S. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Ph.D. Cornell University

Research

Professor Kennerly conducts research with undergraduates in the area of computational quantum chemistry.   We study how tryptophan, an amino acid used in biochemical fluorescence studies, absorbs and emits light.  It turns out that tryptophan has an intricate quantum structure whose details depend crucially on subtle changes in its environment.  We use special software to predict how tryptophan will change when its environment is changed, studies which would be very difficult to do experimentally.   Students who work with Prof. Kennerly can have backgrounds in chemistry, physics, math, biochemistry, or computer programming.  

Teaching

Professor Kennerly teaches primarily introductory chemistry and physical chemistry.  He has also taught calculus.

CH 125 Principles of Chemistry (lecture and lab)
CH 330 Physical Chemistry 1 (lecture and lab)
CH 332 Physical Chemistry 2 (lecture and lab)
CH 351C Elective - Computational Chemistry
CH 377/378 Senior Seminar
MA 111 Calculus 1