Faculty Profile: Dave Vosburg

Dave Vosburg, Donald A. Strauss Professor of Chemistry, has been at the College since 2005. Inside the lab, Vosburg leads a group of molecule-making students, and outside he strives “to generally be a blessing” to the people around him on campus. Vosburg and his students seek to make medicinally useful molecules in new ways, especially in biomimetic ways, using chemistry that imitates how such molecules are believed to be formed naturally in plants. “In ideal cases, it almost seems like the molecules are making themselves!” he says. They also seek to use environmentally friendly methods that minimize waste, toxicity and hazards. “Some of our target molecules can be used to fight inflammation, bacteria, fungi or tuberculosis. Often we make molecules that no one else has ever made before!” Learn more about Vosburg, including what superpower he’d like to have and how he’d use it, in this Q-and-A.

What is your favorite part about your job and why?

I love being able to bring other fun parts of my life into my job, like caring about sustainability, loving J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth and listening to students’ questions about how science and religious belief can go together.

What is something people don’t understand about your job that you wish they did?

It is so cool when your students have made a new molecule that no one else has ever made before! Everything we learn about it is brand-new, and we possess the world’s supply of it!

If you could swap jobs with any other HMC employee for a day, who would it be and why?

I’d swap with someone from CIS with an awesome view from the fifth floor of Sprague. I love great window views.

If you could add anything to campus to improve the employee experience, what would it be?

An amazing new building that would offer fantastic views of what’s going on inside the building as well as views for those inside to see the world outside as a reminder of the impact of their work at Mudd.

What’s your favorite food/dish in the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Hall?

Shrimp tacos or fried plantains.

What HMC events have made you feel really connected to other HMC colleagues?

I feel most connected when colleagues share about things that don’t typically come up in normal conversation. For example, when new faculty members are introduced by the dean of faculty, we often get a fun fact about each new hire in their first faculty meeting. We also had an Office of Institutional Diversity series in which colleagues shared about their life journeys and what was important to their development as a person.

What is your favorite hobby, activity or creative outlet?

I love to follow collegiate sports, whether it’s CMS, Williams College (my alma mater) or the University of Michigan (where my parents met as grad students). Lately, I’ve been very into the CMS tennis teams, which have been featuring a lot of Mudders! CMS will be hosting the Division 3 NCAA Tennis Championships in Claremont next May, making it a must-see event!

What is the best piece of advice someone has given you, either in life or at work?

Always keep in mind who I’m really living and working for, advice I got from Colossians 3:23.

What is your most effective strategy for dealing with stress?

My top strategies for managing stress are: praying about it, getting exercise (like biking to and from work each day), and spending time with my family. All of those help and all of them together are definitely the best.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and how would you use it at work?

I would like to talk with molecules (if they could think and talk) so I would know how they want to react in new ways. There’s so much I’d learn about chemistry and about the world!

Are you studying or learning something new?

I’m learning about New Zealand, as I’m going there for a sabbatical during the 2027–28 academic year.

What book or podcast are you enjoying right now?

I’m currently enjoying a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien called “Mythopoeia” (myth making). Tolkien’s reflections about creating new things are inspiring to me as a molecule maker.

What’s a fun fact about you?

I have several large Lord of the Rings LEGO sets in my HMC office, and they bring me joy. Come see them if you like! A couple of Mudd students pranked one of the sets a few years ago, and I have left some of the prank intact to remind me about them and their fun antics.