Penny J. Gilmer

Penny Gilmer (1943- ), born and raised in New Jersey, majored in chemistry at Douglass College. For her doctorate in biochemistry at University of California-Berkeley, she studied the binding of vitamin B6 to an enzyme by both equilibrium and fast reaction kinetic studies. After a postdoc at Stanford U studying immunochemistry, she began a 33-year career as a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Florida State University. In 2004, Penny graduated with a second doctorate in Science Education from Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia. Penny studied her own undergraduate, biochemistry classroom, the topic of her newest book (Transforming Undergraduate Biochemistry Teaching Using Collaborative Learning and Technology: Ready, Set, Action Research!). She retires at the end of June 2010, and has published five monographs, one co-edited book (Transforming Undergraduate Science Teaching: Social Constructivist Perspectives), two co-authored books (both with the National Research Council), and numerous journal articles and book chapters. Penny lives with her husband in Tallahassee, FL and has two grown children.