Faculty and Staff

Rocio Doherty
Department Head, Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering
Office: Sugar Land campus - Brazos Hall 217
Phone: 281-243-8550
Email: dohertyr@wcjc.edu

Dr. Doherty holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Monterrey Tech, in Mexico, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of San Luis Potosi, in Mexico. She has worked in several companies in Mexico and the U.S. as a Senior Chemist, Lab Manager, and Process Engineer in the polymers, cement and concrete, environmental, and oil and gas fields. She has 19 years of college-level teaching and content development experience. She teaches Introductory, General, and Organic Chemistry.


John Bankston
Instructor of Chemistry
Office:  Richmond campus - TC 140J
Phone:  281-239-1563
Email:  bankstonj@wcjc.edu

Mr. Bankston received his B.S. degree from the University of Houston and a M.S. degree from the University of Washington. He worked in a pilot plant for hydrocarbon research at Dow Chemical in Freeport, Texas from 2001 to 2005. Mr. Bankston joined WCJC in 2002. He has instructed courses in Introductory, General, and Organic Chemistry.


Latasha Herndon
Instructor of Chemistry
Office:  Sugar Land campus - Brazos Hall  248-A 
Phone:  281-243-8587
Email: herndonl@wcjc.edu

Dr. Latasha Herndon has a B.S. in Chemistry from Southern University A & M and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. She has taught at both the high school and college levels and owned a tutorial center that focused on standardized testing. She joined WCJC in January 2019. Dr. Herndon teaches Introductory Chemistry and General Chemistry.


Nicole Lippolis
Instructor of Chemistry
Office:  Sugar Land campus - Brazos Hall  239 
Phone:  281-243-8588
Email: lippolisn@wcjc.edu

Mrs. Lippolis-Ruvalcaba received her B.S. degree in Chemistry, with minors in Biology and Mathematics, from Dowling College and received a Master’s degree in Biochemistry from CUNY Queens College. Mrs. Lippolis did some work as a technologist, where she did clinical trial tests on HIV and HCV viral loads, as well as genotyping. She was also a Manufacturing Scientist in a Biotech company, where she made compound libraries for universities and industries. She worked in industry for 5 years and has taught at the collegiate level since 2009. Mrs. Lippolis joined WCJC in 2017. She teaches Introductory, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry.


Tracey Simmons-Willis
Instructor of Chemistry
Office:  Wharton campus - Science 227B
Phone:  979-532-6572
Email:   willist@wcjc.edu

Dr. Willis received her B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Louisiana State University.  She has 10 years of college-level teaching experience.  She has worked for both the federal and D.C. governments as a patent examiner and lab supervisor.  Dr. Willis joined WCJC in 2016. She teaches Introductory, General, and Organic Chemistry. 


Hui Zhao (Henry)
Instructor of Chemistry
Office:  Richmond campus - TC 140J
Phone:  281-239-1564
Email:  zhaoh@wcjc.edu

Dr. Zhao holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry and an M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an M.S. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Houston, and received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Xiamen University, in China. Prior to teaching at WCJC, Dr. Zhao worked as a scientist in Alzheimer's Disease drug development and polymers. Dr. Zhao joined WCJC in January 2014. He teaches Introductory and General Chemistry.


 

Last Updated