Austin Scharf

Dr. Austin Scharf is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Oxford College, part of Emory University. He joined the faculty in 2017 and teaches courses in the Chemistry Unbound curriculum including Structure & Properties, Principles of Reactivity, and Advanced Reactivity. He serves as faculty co-director of the Discovery Seminar program.

Dr. Scharf's educational background includes:

• B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Richmond (2006)
• Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Harvard University (2013)

His research focuses on synthesizing luminescent transition metal complexes with dipyrrin ligands for biological imaging applications, leveraging their magnetic and optical properties for multi-modal detection. He also collaborates on chemical education research to understand student mastery of challenging chemical concepts through innovative curriculum design.

His publication trends reveal dual expertise: inorganic chemistry work centers on first-row transition metal dipyrrin complexes' luminescence and reactivity, while chemical education publications develop backward-designed laboratory courses for intermolecular forces and advanced reactivity concepts.

No scientific awards were mentioned in the provided text.

Dr. Scharf mentors undergraduate research students in inert-atmosphere synthesis techniques (Schlenk line/glovebox) and spectroscopic characterization methods. Specific grant details were not provided.

He collaborates with Oxford Chemistry faculty on educational research and co-directs Discovery Seminars including Drugs in Chemistry & Culture (2019-2024) and Symmetry – Form & Function in Art & Science (2025-).