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Benjamin Gherman

Benjamin Gherman
Assistant Professor, Chemistry

Background and expertise:
Benjamin Gherman, a new faculty member in the Department of Chemistry since fall 2006, knows his way around a molecule.

With expertise in areas such as physical and computational chemistry, Gherman’s research has focused on computational chemistry applied to bioinorganic chemical systems. His graduate research contributed to an understanding of the mechanism of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota, where he studied oxygen activation by monocopper enzymes.

Gherman is teaching physical chemistry and general chemistry and noticed immediately the diversity of students. “I’m teaching a wide range of students,” he says, “and it wasn’t the 18- to 22-year-old range I was used to teaching. A large number are older students. Many of them have families. With that comes a maturity that makes them dedicated learners.”

He also appreciates the campus’ warm, friendly environment and the faculty cooperation. “I’ve already found a colleague in the Chemistry Department to collaborate with on an electrochemistry research project,” says Gherman. “It was nice to find someone so quickly to work with.”

David Andersen

David Andersen
Assistant Professor, Government

Background and expertise:
If it weren’t for Sacramento State, David Andersen literally wouldn’t be here. 

“My parents met while attending what was then Sacramento State College,” says Andersen, an assistant professor in Government. “So the University has a special place in my heart. I’m glad to give something back by teaching here.”

Andersen’s areas of expertise include foreign policy decision-making, international security, conflict processes and conflict resolution, contentious politics and political violence. In addition to teaching government courses, he is also the faculty coordinator for the Peace and Conflict Resolution minor.

Before coming to the University, Andersen worked for the Federation of American Scientists’ Arms Sales Monitoring Project, as the associate director of Student Pugwash USA, and as a researcher for the Crisis and Negotiation Research Group at the University of Maryland—College Park.

“I appreciated the policy work I did in Washington, D.C. But I knew I preferred teaching,” says Andersen, who has taught at George Washington University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Vanderbilt University. “The students at California State University, Sacramento are among the best students I’ve taught. They have a real curiosity and a desire to learn.”