Keynote Speaker Bio
Professor and Beres/Dahl Faculty Research Fellow in Computational Science
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Bailey College of Science and Mathematics
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Ashley Ringer McDonald received her B.S. in Chemistry from Mississippi College in 2004. She was an undergraduate research student with Prof. David Magers, using computational chemistry to study organic reaction mechanisms. She went on to get her Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, working with Prof. David Sherrill, using electronic structure methods to study non-covalent interactions. Dr. McDonald did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in the Center for Computer-Aided Drug Design, where she was a NIH NRSA post-doctoral fellow. She joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2011 where she is now a full professor.
Broadly, Dr. McDonald’s research interests include studying molecular level interactions in complex chemical contexts, using a variety of computational chemistry techniques to characterize molecular interactions over different timescales and length scales. Current projects include studying signaling pathways in proteins, elucidating mechanisms of natural product synthesis, and studying how naturally occurring peptides can impact the human microbiome.
Prof. McDonald is a strong advocate for helping students develop strong computational and data science skills to become better students, researchers, and critical thinkers. She is on the Board of Directors for the Molecular Sciences Software Institute, where she serves as director for education, training, and faculty development. In 2023, she served as the Chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of Computers in Chemistry. She is the editor of two books, published by the American Chemical Society, Teaching Programming Across the Chemistry Curriculum and Engaging Students in Physical Chemistry, Volume 2.
In her free time, Dr. McDonald is an avid baker who particularly loves making French style pastry and Viennoiserie, including croissants, Danish, and brioche. She lives in San Luis Obispo, California with her husband and her dog.