Principal Investigator
Office: CHB 309
Phone: 405-325-0458
Email: Jana.K.Shen@ou.edu |
Jana K. Shen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Diplom-Chem., Bergische Universität Wuppertal,
Germany, 1996
M.Sc., University of Calgary, Canada, 1999
Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2003
Postdoc, The Scripps Research Institute, 2003-2007
|
Biography
Jana Shen (沈扬) was born in Shanghai, China. As a child of the Culture
Revolution, Jana traveled around and lived in
several cities, including
Shanghai
and Suzhou, where her
grandparents lived, and Chengdu,
Sichuan Province, a remote city where her parents were sent to work for 10
years. Jana attended middle- and high-schools in
Nantong, Jiangsu Province, where her
parents had finally settled. Her interest in chemistry
led her to then West Germany, where chemistry was traditionally one of the
strongest scientific disciplines in the world. She mastered German language in a
short period of time and graduated from the
Bergishe Universität
Wuppertal in a minimum time, which was very unusual for a foreign student at the
time. Among all subjects she studied, her favorite was quantum chemistry.
Motivated by her interest in electronic structures she conducted experiments to
synthesize and study electronic and vibrational states of small molecules as an
undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Ewald Fink's lab. By the end of the
study she realized that her real interest lies in the prediction of molecular
properties, and useful predictions can only be made through developing new
theories, models and implementing them into computer programs. The fascination
with molecular electronic structures led to her to a thesis work (Diplom Arbeit) under the
guidance of Dr. Robert Bünker in the relativistic
calculation of electronic and vibrational states of a tri-atomic molecule. The
results of the theoretical study were later confirmed by a spectroscopic
experiment.
Besides the academic study, Jana enjoyed and actively participated in the
cultural life of Germany. She lived for 2 years with 4 German students (Barbara,
Uta, Eckhart, and Thomas) in a five-bedroom penthouse (Dachwohnung) in a district
heavily populated by college students and foreign guest workers in
Elberfeld, Wuppertal, a city known for
its 1000 years of monorail
(Schwebebahn).
This is the first time when Jana was exposed to the idea of Green politics, a
movement that soon grew into a political power in west Germany. Jana was a
frequent visitor of Pina
Bausch's dance theatre (Tanztheater
Wuppertal). It is amazing that some of the original pieces such as
Kontakthof and
Komm tanz mit mir
are still playing today. Her favorite music bands at the time were
Scorpions,
Accept, and
Guns N' Roses. In one summer she took a
data entry job in the Wuppertal
Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, where she took further
influence from the progressive Green politics. She observed the impact of the
fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the former soviet union. Perhaps the
best piece of art that describes the feelings of the time is the song
Wind of change
by Klaus
Meine. Jana left Germany in 2000, when the country was going through a
unique social economical transition, adjusting to the German unification and
moving towards globalization. Shortly after, Germany became a leader of European Union.
The next stop was in the beautiful foot hills of Rocky mountains - Calgary,
Canada. While doing her thesis work in Germany, an ad from Tom Ziegler's group
in Canada soliciting PhD students for Density functional studies caught Jana's
attention. Jana was fascinated by the possibilities that Density functional
theory had opened up - theoretical prediction of various electronic properties
for large molecules. Jana performed the first NMR spin-spin coupling
calculations and analysis for transition-metal complexes and was later involved in the
development of new methods for including relativistic effects. From Germany to
Canada, it was certainly a big change in culture and mentality. Despite the cold
weather, the Canadians are perhaps the most warm-hearted and guest friendly
folks she has ever met.
Many Americans would refer to Minneapolis as the coldest city city.
But compared to the harsh winter in Calgary, the climate in Minneapolis is mild.
Here, Jana continued her quest of knowledge in electronic structure theory and
applications. She also encountered, for the first time, proteins, and the
mysterious world of biology. [to be continued]