John R. Townsend is a retired professor of chemistry at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He completed his B.A. in chemistry as well as the approved program for teacher certification in chemistry at the University of Delaware. After a career teaching high school science and mathematics, he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry at Cornell University, where he also received the DuPont Teaching Award for his work as a teaching assistant.
After teaching at Bloomsburg University, he joined the faculty at West Chester University, where he coordinated the chemistry education program for prospective high school teachers and the general chemistry lecture programs, taught undergraduate courses in general chemistry and biochemistry and was the university supervisor for 78 prospective high school chemistry teachers during their student teaching semester. Retiring in 2021, he is currently emeritus professor of chemistry. In 2021, he was also the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in Chemical Science from the Philadelphia Section of the American Chemistry Society. He may be contacted by email at jtownsend@wcupa.edu.
