Preceptorships in Chemistry

The preceptor program in the Department of Chemistry at Yale began in 2018 with the appointment of two preceptors, one with responsibility for general chemistry and the other for organic chemistry. 

Preceptors are Ph.D.-level scientists who assist in undergraduate teaching by working closely with faculty members. Preceptorships are an excellent opportunity for recent Ph.D. graduates in chemistry to expand their teaching experience to obtain an independent teaching post. Many of our preceptors, having the experience of teaching at Yale, have gone on to secure positions at other high-profile institutions.

The role of the preceptor is to assist in the delivery of the respective large-enrollment lecture courses and laboratory classes, with duties that include leading weekly discussion sections and laboratory sections, holding office hours, and helping to train and support the teaching fellows associated with the courses. Additional responsibilities include helping design course content and assessment tasks, developing new laboratory modules, conducting regular review sessions, and grading. The preceptor position provides added continuity for these important foundational courses and gives students another point of contact with the department. 

Current Job Opening

Preceptor, Chemistry

We currently seek a preceptor to focus on organic chemistry and general chemistry courses. The position, beginning August 1, is initially for one year and is renewable for up to three years.

Apply to be a Preceptor

Past Preceptors Secure Teaching Positions

person blue shirt

Aaron M. Clark
Chemistry Lecturer at UPenn

Aaron Clark was a preceptor at Yale University 2020 to 2023. After his preceptorship, Clark took a chemistry lecturer position at the University of Pennsylvania.

person brown sweater

Mioy Huynh
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Claremont, McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges

Mioy Huynh was a preceptor of general chemistry at Yale University from 2018 to 2020. After his preceptorship, Huynh took a visiting assistant professor of chemistry position at the W.M. Keck Science Department of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps Colleges. He teaches the Basic Principles of Chemistry lecture and lab and the Land, Air, And Ocean Science lab.

His chemistry education began at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his bachelor’s degree in 2012. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2017 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, under the supervision of Professor Sharon Hammes-Schiffer. He then conducted research as a postdoctoral scholar alongside Professor Qiang Cui at Boston University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Learn more about Huynh.

person long hair

Hannah Lant
Assistant Instructional Professor of Chemistry, University of Chicago

Hannah Lant was a preceptor of general chemistry from 2020 to 2022 before taking on the role of assistant instructional professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago (UC), where she teaches general chemistry courses and a physical chemistry lab.

Lant received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in inorganic chemistry from Yale University in 2020. As a graduate student, she worked as a McDougal Teaching Fellow for four years. She coordinated a team in the 2019-2020 academic year that offered over 90 workshops to graduate teaching fellows and postdoctoral researchers at Yale.

In her current role, she studies the efficacy of support resources on the sense of belonging and retention of first-year students in chemistry courses.

Learn more about Lant.

person curly hair

Jenny S. Martinez
Lecturer in Chemistry, Princeton University (2021-2023)

Jenny S. Martinez was a preceptor of organic chemistry at Yale University from 2018 to 2020 before taking the role of lecturer in chemistry at Princeton University.

She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Chicago, where she also worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Duncan Wardrop’s group. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in organic chemistry from the same institution under the tutelage of Justin T. Mohr. For her Ph.D. studies, she focused on developing a regiodivergent method to access halogenated resorcinol derivatives from readily available vinylogous esters using sulfonyl halides as halenium donors. She also developed a methodology to access new sterically demanding halopyridines via the Ciamician–Dennstedt rearrangement.

Preceptor in the News