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 20+ years of college-level teaching and content development experience. Dr. Doherty joined WCJC in 2017. She teaches Introductory, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry.
Full-time Faculty
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, General, and Organic 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.
Brian Trinh
Instructor of Chemistry
Office: Wharton campus - Science 217
Phone: 979-532-6989
Email: trinhb@wcjc.edu
Dr. Brian Trinh received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign., B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Washington, and A.S. degrees in Chemistry, Physics/Engineering, and Computer Science from Skagit Valley Community College. He taught several undergraduate courses at the University of Illinois before joining the faculty at Wharton County Junior College, where he is teaching Introductory Chemistry and General 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.