Biography

George Hammons is Professor of Chemistry at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he has chaired the Department for the past eighteen years. He was also Director of the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program at Philander Smith for twelve years. In addition to his active engagement in the training of undergraduate students in chemistry and other sciences, he has also developed out-reach activities for junior high and high school students to encourage their participation and development in the sciences. After completing the undergraduate degree in chemistry and mathematics at Philander Smith, he received his doctoral training in biochemistry at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has had research interest in the area of chemical carcinogenesis; and more recently, his research has focused on the potential role of dietary agents in cancer chemoprevention and on epigenetics in the regulation of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes. Civic responsibility has also been important to Dr. Hammons.Among these activities, he served as Commissioner on his county's Board of Election Commissioners for eighteen years and on his state's Racing Commission for eight years. He is a senior scientist at the National Center for Toxicological Research.