A $500,000 grant to fully fund the John Stauffer Professorship in Analytical Chemistry was awarded to California Lutheran University Associate Professor of Chemistry Katherine Hoffmann in March.
According to Hoffmann, the endowment from the John Stauffer Charitable Trust, will now pay for her full salary as a means of fostering faculty continuity and faculty-mentored research for students in the Chemistry Department.
Executive Director for the Office of Sponsored Research and Projects Lauren Causey said in an email interview that the Chemistry Department has received three endowments from the Stauffer Trust since 2001. The earned interest from this new investment will join an original $750,000 endowment to support the position.
“It continues to support Dr. Kate Hoffmann, the current Stauffer professor of analytical chemistry, to conduct cutting-edge research in the field of chemistry and provide invaluable mentorship to students in the department,” said Causey in an email interview.
Hoffmann, who has been John Stauffer professor of analytical chemistry at Cal Lutheran since 2015, said the private foundation is focused on impacting student experiences in chemistry departments at small, mainly undergraduate institutions.
“They’re really, really engaged in supporting research in chemistry, which is amazing,” Hoffmann said. “The grant was all about the impact that it makes to have continuity of faculty, so the fact that I’ve been here 10 years, and that that’s been consistent for students, means that I have this really active research lab.
Hoffmann said she credits the Office of Research and University Advancement for helping her to secure this endowment. In addition to Causey’s grant writing, the university organized a campus visit with Stauffer representatives last summer, which led Hoffmann to reapply for the expansion in funding.
Stauffer representatives toured Swenson Science Center and met with Hoffmann and chemistry students participating in the John Stauffer Research Fellows Program at Cal Lutheran, a competitive summer research intensive also funded by the foundation, according to Hoffmann.
“It’s one of the most generous fellowships on campus and it’s just for chemists, so we’re very, very lucky,” Hoffmann said.
The program issues stipends for up to 10 chemistry students to conduct research over eight weeks, with extra funds being used to cover consumable chemicals, housing and travel costs, Hoffmann said. Students also receive funding to travel to present research findings at a regional or national conference.
“These summer intensive research experiences will prepare our students for graduate study, work in industry, or related professional activities,” said Grady Hanrahan, professor and chair of the Chemistry Department, in an email interview.
Sophomore Ashlee Bacconi was awarded with a Stauffer fellowship last summer and said she spent eight weeks researching enzymes found in virulent bacteria like anthrax, that are being associated with antibiotic resistance.
As a culmination of their work, Bacconi, and three other Stauffer fellows presented their summer research with Hoffmann at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Chicago from April 12-15, 2025.
Bacconi said discussing her research with graduate students and field professionals at the conference was a highlight of the fellowship.
“You could be in a lab … but then there’s also the aspect of life. You need to go out there and talk to people. You need to be able to communicate your ideas and, you know, share your research in a way that is collaborative,” Bacconi said.
Bacconi said she plans to continue developing her previous research this summer as a returning Stauffer fellow. She said she looks forward to Hoffmann’s mentorship inside and outside the lab, especially regarding graduate school.
“Dr. Hoffmann is a very good mentor. She does have a lot of experience at many different universities, so she has a lot of insight,” Bacconi said. “She has so much expertise and everything that it’s like, I’m always learning something new when I ask her questions about her research.”
Hoffmann said she will be taking on eight student fellows this year, seven of which are Stauffer fellows and one from the McNair Scholars Program. While Hoffmann said she might get stretched a little thin, she is excited to work with these select students.
“I did undergraduate research when I was an undergrad because I was at a small school like this, and that’s I think why I’m so committed to it. It changed the whole course, the whole direction, of where I was gonna go,” Hoffmann said.
With eight fellows set to begin, a new water purifier installed in the lab, and additional grants pending approval, Hoffmann said this summer is looking to be “one of the most productive summers we’ve had in a long time” and is looking forward to seeing her students’ work.
“They are discovering new information that nobody has ever seen before, and they’re the first ones to see it, and when they do it really well– and they know they do it well– it’s a pretty extraordinary experience,” Hoffmann said.
