Mark E. Welker obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. He received a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1985 and was then a Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley from 1985-86. In January of 1987, he accepted a faculty position at Wake Forest University and currently is William L. Poteat Professor of Chemistry. He also holds joint academic appointments in the Departments of Biochemistry, Cancer Biology, and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He served as chair of Wake Forest University’s Research Advisory Council from 1997-2001 and from 2002-2003. During parts of 2001, 2002, and 2005 he worked as a rotating Program Officer in the Division of Chemistry at the National Science Foundation. From 2003-2012, he served as the senior research administrator for the Reynolda campus of Wake Forest University and held the formal administrative job titles of Associate Provost for Research, Associate Provost for Research and Faculty Affairs, Vice Provost and Interim Provost. At the North Carolina state level, he served as a member of the NC Board of Science and Technology from 2002-2013. He served as chemistry department chair from 2014-2018 during which part of the department moved into the Wake Innovation Quarter and Salem Hall was renovated. He has been the principal investigator (PI) on over 40 different externally funded proposals on research and education topics. His research group’s work has resulted in over 95 publications and 5 issued patents. The publications include 6 invited book chapters and reviews and these publications have over 2380 citations listed in Google Scholar. His H-index is 25 and his i10 index is 64. In 2008, he was elected a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He enjoys his responsibilities as a teacher and mentor and has taught courses in the Departments of Chemistry and Cancer Biology. To date, he has served as research adviser to 11 senior scientists/postdoctoral fellows, 29 graduate theses supervised, and >100 undergraduate, community college and high school research students (10 Honors theses completed to date). His efforts as a mentor were recognized on the national level during the years of 1994-99 when he was named as a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.