Dr. Appleton earned his B.S. degree in Chemistry and Marine Sciences at The University of Miami in 2006. At UM, he taught General Chemistry Laboratory and Introductory Marine Science. For his efforts in General Chemistry Dr. Appleton was awarded back-to-back teaching awards. He then went on to Georgia Institute of Technology where he earned his PhD. in Organic Chemistry in 2010. As a teaching assistant in Organic Chemistry II, he was awarded the Thank-A-Teacher Award from the Center for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. Afterwhich, Dr. Appleton joined Stanford University's Chemical Engineering Department as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Appleton has co-authored twenty peer-reviewed articles in such journals as the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Energy & Environmental Science, and Chemistry of Materials. Research topics include organic electronic materials design, synthesis, and implementation in various applications such as solar cells, transistors, (bio)chemical sensors, and pressure sensors.

Although Dr. Appleton had a wicked awesome time doing research on the cutting edge of technology for futuristic applications, he yearned to return to the classroom. After teaching for a couple of years at various colleges, he has found his new home at SPC. He hopes to instill the same passion for chemistry and science in his students, and show them how you can change the world one atom at a time.

Dr. Appleton's philosophy: "Everything that is interesting involves chemistry, and I hope to get you to want to learn chemistry."

Grants:
2015: Center of Excellence for Teaching and Learning Instructional Materials Grant for Molecular Visions Molecular Model Kits by Darling Models.

Student Comments:

Summer 2017
"Professor Appleton has a unique teaching style, and it is not always conventional, but is extremely effective. Every class has students with different needs and motivations, and I have never seen an instructor engage all students o well- not only did he aid students in understanding the material, but he explained it from many different perspectives to give us a practical and conceptual understanding of the workings of chemistry. He really is an exceptional teacher and built the respect of the classroom from the first day by treating us like adults who wanted to be in class. Overall, I would have to say that Professor Appleton is the best professor I have ever had in my college courses, and many professors could learn from his teaching style."
"Prof Appleton is THE BEST professor I have ever encountered at ANY school! He is pure genius! He keeps the class engaged the whole time! He is funny and explains Organic Chemistry as if it was nothing! He uses real life examples before and during lectures and brings history into play as well. I absolutely LOVE this class and look forward to taking more classes with him in the future! Keep up the amazing work! You should receive an award! Thank you for making this subject fun and clear to understand! I can't say "I hate it" anymore because of you!"
"Dr. Appleton was by far one of my favorite professors. He cares about his class outside of the classroom. He helped me out with several questions I had on my future career and even connected me to pharmacy volunteering opportunities. He is incredibly dedicated to his students"
"Professor Appleton is by far the best instructor I have had while at SPC. He is well educated with real world experience to back up his knowledge. He cares about students and their future. His expectations are realistic while pushing a student to reach their academic potential. Chemistry is not an easy class for most, Professor Appleton manages the daunting task of passing chemistry while keeping it interesting."
"Professor Appleton is AWESOME!!! He encouraged me to stick with the class when I wanted to drop it. He gave me confidence and the material finally started to make sense to me. He was very positive and encouraged us to succeed. Thank you Professor Appleton!!! You rock!!!"
"He makes you think about different problem solving ideas that will be applicable throughout life."
"I have taken Organic Chemistry before and had a rough time, but with Dr. Appleton Organic Chemistry was fun to learn and I was excited to practice it. I have never been so successful in a science course, and I give him the credit for teaching it right."
"All in all, he definitely is the perfect example of the type of professor students wish for."
"What a college professor should aspire to be. Changes how you approach school and life. Always available to help with the material. Allows you to teach yourself and gives you all the tools necessary to be successful in the classroom and beyond."

Spring 2017
"You have not only been a professor to me but a mentor to me in pursuing my career in the medical field. I come from a family who is not in the medical field and your constant support has helped me a lot. Thanks for being awesome!"
"Professor Appleton is a phenomenal educator, and truly creates an environment in which a student can succeed - even the ones to whom this material does not come naturally. Professor Appleton provided all tools necessary to succeed in this course."
"By far the best class I have ever taken at SPC...I will highly refer Dr. Appleton and I am relieved someone like him is [an Academic] Chair. I will most definitely be taking him for courses in the future."
"Dr. Appleton is one of the most engaging instructors I have had the pleasure of taking a class from."
"Easy to understand the course material and the homework on my courses were well made. Overall amazing teacher and one of the best classes I've ever had."
"I have learned a ton from this course and recommend him to anyone."
"I do not memorize well. My professor showed us WHY and HOW so we didn't have to memorize things we didn't understand. This made seemingly complicated topics easier to grasp."
"Dr. Appleton is one of the best professors I have ever had. I didn't think I would ever enjoy coming to an Organic Chemistry 2 class but I enjoyed coming to his class. He makes the subject fun to learn and he is always there for you if you have questions or don't understand something. He seems to really enjoy the subject which translates to the res of the class well. I wish I would have found him for chemistry sooner."
"This is the best Organic chem teacher within the entire SPC college system. He is very personable and easy to ask questions. PLEASE HAVE HIM TEACH BIOCHEM. We need more oprtions for this class. I'd love to take him again. His teaching style is very fair."

Fall 2016
"Professor Appleton was by far one of my favorite teachers I have ever had. I will most definitely be taking his Organic Chemistry class."
"I have always liked chemistry, but Prof Appleton is the rare class of chemistry teachers these days who make you want to study higher levels of the subject."
"I struggled in this course previously in high school and HCC. With Professor Appleton I have managed to finish the course with a high b/a and strong understanding of the material. He is an awesome instructor and makes it interesting."
"The course is perfect as long as Dr. Appleton is teaching it."
"It was a challenging course, but it was not impossible because of the way the course was structured and how the professor taught the course. The study groups were a fantastic idea."
"This is my second endeavor for taking organic chemistry, and even though it didn't exactly work out the first time, he encouraged me so much that I didn't lose faith in the path I want to continue traveling. I'm just really grateful for the overall experience this time around and am inspired by him to keep moving forward."
"The support materials were helpful. I learned a lot more than I expected in this course and I believe a few doors opened for me. I am definitely prepared for Orgo 2 and biochem."
"I really love the way the course is taught. The videos are super helpful, and practicing in class instead of sitting through long drawn-out lectures has truly helped me understand the material better."
"He is like the organic chemistry jesus. I loved his personality and love and passion for the subject and the stories of his experiences were so intriguing and interesting. He really knows what he's doing and very willing to help when you need it the most."
"My absolute favorite lab was the Qualitative Analysis lab where we basically ran an experiment on our own with almost no instruction. It made me feel like I could do lab work for a living. My second favorite lab was the multi-step synthesis. I enjoyed this lab because it was real world related. The instructor was always forgiving and helpful. I appreciated that it was more about learning processes and understanding how reactions work rather than doing the experiment with 100% accuracy."
"Class always flew by because you were actually learning and enjoying time there."
"You are one of the best professors I have ever had, even though you only were able to teach our class for a short period of time. If anyone deserved a promotion in this college, it was you and that is a no-brainer. Your hard work and dedication to student's education is what makes you such a wonderful professor."


Summer 2016
"He made me want to learn."
"I hope you are having a fantastic summer and I honestly do miss orgo! It was such a great experience and as I am studying for the DAT, I feel lucky to have had an instructor that provided such high quality content to where my orgo section is one of my strongest sections right now in my practice exams."
"Doc Appleton is a boss. He helps students to succeed beyond what he teaches in lecture."
"Dear Dr. Appleton, It was a pleasure to have your course and you were hands down the best lab professor I have ever had (and I have attended several science labs at USF). I appreciate your ability to teach organic chemistry in a way which is related to modern-day science. It was great how you could relate certain experiments to how they correlate with real jobs and science careers. You never had a problem sitting down explaining topics, and created a very safe as well as enjoyable lab experience. Thank you for being such a great professor and any student who encounters you in the future would be blessed to have you as a part of their educational experience. You are helping pave the way for success for student's professional careers, whether that be graduate school or medical school. I recently switched my fall schedule so I could have your organic chemistry 2 lab. Keep up the great work, you should be proud of your accomplishments!"
"Dr. Appleton was strength of this course. He made class interesting by showing how the material is relevant to graduate entrance exams and in the real world. He encouraged us to seek help from each other and himself and made himself more than available to everyone."
"Dr. Appleton is not only a well respected member of the scientific community, he is able to convey his knowledge and love for the subject easily to his students. Being a transient student, I am sad that I will be unable to take further classes with him."
"I am a transfer student from UF and I dont even want to go back because Appleton was such a wonderful professor"
"Dr. Appleton has such a mastery of the subject that any question is met with an interesting and informative answer. He knows how to tie the theory to current topics in science and spark interest in the subject at hand. He's a phenomenal professor and I'm glad I had the chance to take this course with him."
"The teacher is the best chemistry teacher i have ever had. I came here over the summer to take the class and he puts USF to shame. He helped us practice in study groups, held reviews, present good examples and in general made sure that every student had more than enough opportunities to succeed."

Spring 2016
"I am honored to have been your student, sir."
"He is, hands down, the best instructor I have ever encountered."
"He has made what normally is a dull class fun with all his knowledge of practical applications of Organic Chemistry."
" He holds us to a higher standard, that is much more like a university, and it encourages us to do our best work."
"Appleton is the best chem lab professor I have had so far. He participates during the whole class period, takes the time to make sure things are done correctly, and provides helpful feedback...full of interesting and funny facts. He's quite entertaining. He grades fairly."
"The culture of safety was a huge improvement from previous labs."
"I never felt more encouraged to ask questions in any other class in my entire life."
"I believe his teaching style has helped encourage many in my lab to continue on science paths through his guidance and mentorship as well as his enthusiasm for the content at hand."
"Probably the coolest, most understanding professor you will meet."

Fall 2015
"Appleton reaches out to students and creates an environment thats shows he wants every student to be successful in school and beyond."
"Emphasized subject matter that made me feel like I was actually learning organic chemistry in a way that I could use it. He is the best chemistry professor I have had."
"I've had instructors in the past teach to pass a test, but this professor taught us to understand and enjoy chemistry. I'm highly considering changing my major to chemistry because of this class!!!!!!"
"Dr. Appleton was the most available professor I have had."
"He also clearly stated learning expectations and exam format, making test days less stressful."
"Dr. Appleton has a vast amount of actual lab experience from previous jobs, so it's cool to learn from someone with that type of experience."
"He doesn't fake being nice, nor does he have an egotistical superiority complex."
"The instructor reached out to be after a poort test performance asking what he could do to help. I liked him so much I am taking him for Organic chemistry next semester."
"I have had a lot of great professors at SPC, but Appleton has surpassed all of them."

Most Recent Student Passing Rates (Average Rate for All Instructors of Specified Course at SPC):

CHM1025 Introductory Chemistry Fall 2017: 90% (73%); Spring 2018: 72% (67%)
CHM1025L Introductory Chemistry Lab Summer 2017: 95% (90%)
CHM2046 General Chemistry II Fall 2016: 100% (73%)
CHM2210 Organic Chemistry I Summer 2017: 97% (89%); Fall 2017: 74% (77%)
CHM2210L Organic Chemistry I Lab 94% (91%)
CHM2211 Organic Chemistry II Spring 2018: 95% (87%)
CHM2211L Organic Chemistry II Lab Spring 2018: 93% (93%)