Surendra Mahapatro completed his undergraduate education in India (Khallikote College and Ravenshaw College affiliated to Utkal University). For his Ph.D. he studied under Professor P.S. Radhakrishnamurti at Berhampur University. After years of postdoctoral research experience at the University of Illinois Chicago (Jan Rocek), Hope College in Holland Michigan (Michael Doyle), Trinity University (Michael Doyle) and the University of Texas Health Center at San Antonio, Texas (Neal Robinson), he joined the Regis College faculty. In addition to organic chemistry, he teaches general chemistry, the associated laboratories, and the synthesis characterization laboratory. He also contributes to the Integrative College Core Curriculum and has regularly taught Water, a course on global environmental awareness.
The major focus of his current research is on the synthesis of hypervalent chromium(V) compounds molecular basis of aryldiazonium toxicity (reaction with hemoglobin and cytochrome c), ligand binding of nitroxyl (HNO; isoelectronic with molecular oxygen) with cytochrome c oxidase (which is rich in heart mitochondria), peroxydiphosphate as a novel substrate for purple acid phosphatases (in bovine spleen and sweet potatoes). He has co-authored 34 research publications and has published in ACS and Royal Society journals with Regis undergraduate students.
He has developed and established collaborations with colleagues at many universities including Professors Sandra and Gareth Eaton (University of Denver), Professor Duy Hua (Kansas State University), Professor Peter Lay (University of Sydney), and Professor James McEvoy (Royal Holloway University of London). Over the years, his research was supported by NIH-AREA, DOE (ROCKY FLATS), NSF-ILI, ACS(PRF), Research Corporation (Tucson, AZ), NREL (sub-contract), The Pittsburgh Memorial Analytical Conference grant and the Gates Foundation of Colorado (Partners in Science Program). In the past ten years, with support from the Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO, Arizona State University), he has involved more than 50 undergraduate students in research projects.
Dr. Mahapatro was the recipient of an American Fulbright scholar award (1995-96; St. John’s College, Belize, Central America) and was a visiting scholar at the University of Sydney (Australia; 1996 spring) and a senior academic visitor at Oxford (2002 and 2010). Seventeen of his undergraduate research associates have completed graduate programs in chemistry biochemistry at leading US universities.
Outside of his professional interests in teaching/research, he is involved in library improvement projects in college and universities in India and Bangladesh.
