Here I am in my guise as Grandkopf the Gray, a character from my book, The Schnoz of the Rings. You can immediately tell two things from this photo: 1) I am a handsome devil and 2) I don’t take myself seriously. The photo was taken at a recent book signing. The staff is my Tai Chi staff standing in as a wizard staff for the festivities. I got the wizard hat off the internet for about twenty bucks. Cool, eh? I’ve got a wand, too, the Snape model. A friend bought me the Snape wand because at the beginning of every Fall term I would barge into the classroom and give Snape’s speech from the first Harry Potter movie, “There will be no silly wand waving or …” You get the idea. After all, potions class is a lot like chemistry class.
Author Bio
John Osterhout was born in Ranger, Texas. He grew up in several towns in east and central Texas before escaping to college. John’s recent book, The Schnoz of the Rings, is a hilarious retelling of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. John is working on two books to complete the trilogy: New Ring Rising and Ring War. John is also writing a science fiction novel, Mack Alpha Nine, about a galactic law enforcement agent, Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips and her adventures in the galaxy. John recently retired from Angelo State University after ten years as the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. John lives in San Angelo, Texas, with his wife, Kathryn Louie.
Contact John at johnosterhout (at) johnosterhout (dot) com.
Science and Education
I spent a large part of my career as a scientist. I started with summer programs at the University of Texas in Austin after my junior year in high school and at M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Research Institute after my senior year. I progressed through college, graduate school, and post doctoral positions before winding up at the Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I worked at the Rowland Institute for thirteen years before moving to the University of Arizona in 2001 to teach in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. In 2008, I became chair of the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at Angelo State University where I taught general chemistry to freshmen and occasionally biophysics to seniors using a flipped classroom. I retired from Angelo State University in 2018.
Mini CV
Education
- Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Graduate School of Education, 2012
Management Development Program – Graduate training for middle managers in higher education. - The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 1981, Ph.D. Chemistry
- Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1974, B.S. Biochemistry
Professional Experience
- Chair, Permian Basin Section, American Chemical Society, January 2019-Present
- Photographer, Writer, and Bon Vivant, 2018-Present
- Retired, August 31, 2018
- Graduate Faculty, Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas, 2009-2018
- Professor and Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas, 2008-2018
- VIPER Institute Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response, Member, Tucson, Arizona, 2006-Present
- President, Protascentia, LLC (Consulting), Tucson, Arizona, 2006-2008
- Research Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 2002-2008
- Rowland Institute for Science, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988-2001. The Rowland Institute was a private not-for-profit research institute founded by Edwin Land. It is now the Rowland Institute at Harvard.
- Postdoc The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, Mentor Peter Wright, 1988
- Postdoc Stanford University, Stanford, California, Mentor Robert L. Baldwin, 1985-1988
- Postdoc University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, Mentor Barry T. Nall, 1982-1985