Alumni Judges

Melissa Singer Pressman completed her Ph.D. thesis work in Dr. Joe Aldstadt's analytical group; Melissa's work focused on the development of novel techniques and methods for detecting trace hexavalent chromium in surface waters.

Melissa is currently working as a Senior Product Development Scientist at Genetic Testing Institute, Inc (GTI) in Waukesha, WI. GTI is the for-profit subsidiary of The Blood Center Research Foundation. GTI develops a variety of medical diagnostic assays for the HLA (transplantation), Blood Bank, and Coagulation Laboratories.At GTI, Melissa has been responsible for the development and 510(k) approval of GTI's Antibody Monitoring System (AMS), a novel assay designed to detect donor-specific HLA alloantibodies in transplant recipients that may lead to early graft loss or chronic rejection. She is currently working on two new products, one for the HLA market and the other for the Coagulation market.

Melissa resides in Richfield with her husband, two daughters, four cats, and eleven fish.

Chris Johnson graduated with his PhD in Chemistry in the lab of Dr. Alan W. Schwabacher. His primary area of study was Combinatorial Chemistry.

Currently, Chris is teaching entry-level and organic chemistry, including Chemistry 123, Chemistry 124, Chemistry 352 & Chemistry 112 at The University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan County. Previously, Chris taught Chemistry at UW-Washington County.

Outside of teaching, Chris enjoys hiking, biking, remodeling his historic Victorian home and spending time with his 2 year old son, Liam.

Thomas E. Sorensen graduated with his PhD in Physical Chemistry. He studied with Professor Walter B. England.

Tom is currently teaching chemistry here in the department. He teaches General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry Laboratory. He also coordinates the assignment of the teaching assistants to laboratory and discussion sections.

When Dr. Sorensen is not teaching, he can be found calculating Feynman diagrams for polymers, surfaces, or solids that may be associated with a lattice.