Faculty

Susan Sonchik Marine, Ph.D.

Dr. Susan Sonchik Marine directs the Chemical Technology Program at Miami University and is an associate professor. While Susan earned her B.S. in Chemistry at John Carroll University, she worked part-time as a chemical laboratory technician at Horizons Research Inc. She earned her M.S. in Analytical Chemistry and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University while working full-time in the gas chromatography laboratory at the Sohio (later BP) Research Center. After that she managed an environmental laboratory near Washington, D.C. In 1983 she had the opportunity to fulfill a life’s dream to design a new gas chromatograph and joined IBM’s team as an Advisory Engineer in Danbury, CT; the team received an IBM award for the new instrument. Later IBM transferred Dr. Marine to their facility in Essex Jct, VT, to work on microlithography of DRAM chips. Dr. Marine received another IBM award for successfully demonstrating the use of Electron Beam Proximity Printing for submicron lithography in a manufacturing environment. During her industrial career Dr. Marine published 36 technical articles in the areas of gas chromatography, environmental analysis, instrument design and testing, and microlithography and has four invention disclosures.

In 1991 IBM granted Dr. Marine a special assignment to Heritage College in Toppenish, WA, to teach chemistry and establish an environmental science major. Inspired by this experience Susan changed careers in 1995 to enter academia as a Visiting Associate Professor at Centre College in Danville, KY. In 1998 she joined Miami University to develop the Chemical Technology Program, the perfect combination of her industrial background and passion for teaching.

Dr. Marine has been active in local and national professional societies including ACS, ASTM, and ΙΣΠ. Dr. Marine has been Vice President, President, and Immediate Past President of Iota Sigma Pi, the national honor society for women chemists. She has been chair-elect, chair, and past chair (1989-1992) for the Green Mountain Section of the American Chemical Society and the National Chemistry Week coordinator for Vermont, the Yakima Valley (WA), central/eastern Kentucky, and Dayton for a total of 14 years. From 1986-2000, Susan chaired ASTM E-19.03 Subcommittee on Gas Chromatography. She has been listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World annually since 1986.