chemistry

Mark Wightman

Mark Wightman is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mark Wightman rather than just read about it. In short: Robert Mark Wightman (born July 4, 1947) is an electrochemist and professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is best known for his work in the areas of ultramicroelectrodes, electrochemistry, and neurochemistry.

Key takeaways

Mark Wightman belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mark Wightman to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mark Wightman from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Robert Mark Wightman (born July 4, 1947) is an electrochemist and professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is best known for his work in the areas of ultramicroelectrodes, electrochemistry, and neurochemistry. One of Wightman's most notable achievements is the development of the ultramicroelectrode and microelectrode voltammetry. At the same time as Wightman's innovations, the microelectrode was developed independently by Martin Fleischmann at the University of Southampton. In 2011, Wightman had the 192nd highest h-index, 74, of any living chemist. As of 2018, Wightman was an author of over 390 papers and had an h-index of 103.

Education and academic career

Education Wightman received his B.A. degree with honors from Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina in 1968 and earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974, where he worked with Royce Murray. At UNC - Chapel Hill, Wightman began focusing his research on electrochemistry. Wightman was a postdoctoral researcher from 1974 to 1976 at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas under the direction of Ralph N. Adams. His work focused on electroanalytical methods and redox chemistry.

Positions held Wightman worked at Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana from 1976 to 1989. He worked as an assistant professor from 1976 to 1982, and he was promoted to the position of associate professor in 1982 and later to a full professor in 1985. He worked as a full professor until 1989 when he took a position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1989 to his retirement in 2017, Wightman was the William R. Kenan Jr. professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was appointed to the neurobiology curriculum in 1989 and was given an external faculty position at the Neuroscience Center at UNC - Chapel Hill in 2004. Wightman also worked as a research associate at London Hospital Medical College at the University of London in 1984. He was a visiting professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC in 1997 and at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England in the anatomy department in 2004. Wightman was also a visiting fellow in the Churchill College at Cambridge in 2011. He has been an advisor for over 100 doctoral students, masters students, postdoctoral associates, and visiting faculty. Wightman has also been an editor for: Biosensors & Bioelectronics, Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Synapse, and Annual reviews of Analytical Chemistry.

Current research The Wightman research group is primarily interested voltammetric sensors, particularly the ultramicroelectrode. Their small size allows for analysis and measurements at the level of a single biological cell. By coupling these electrodes to fast-scan voltammetric methods, the group has been able to monitor sub-second changes in concentrations of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in response to pharmacological and electrical stimuli.

Awards and achievements Mark Wightman's awards include but are not limited to:

2011 - Herty Medal 2010 - Sir Bernard Katz Award 2008 - American Chemical Society Award in Analytical Chemistry 2006 - Ralph N. Adams Award in Bioanalytical Chemistry 2002 - American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow 1999 - Erskine College Academic Hall of Fame 1996 - Guggenheim Fellowship 1979-1983 - National Institutes of Health Research Career Development Award 1981-1983 - Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship

Notable papers Hyperlocomotion and indifference to cocaine and amphetamine in mice lacking the dopamine transporter Subsecond dopamine release promotes cocaine seeking Detection of dopamine dynamics in the brain Microvoltammetric electrodes

Patents Wightman holds two patents through the United States Patent and Trademark Office, patents 4,038,158 and 4,041,346. Both patents are listed under the name: electrochemical generation of field desorption emitters.

References

External links Curriculum Vitae Mark Wightman - UNC Chemistry

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mark Wightman

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mark Wightman claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mark Wightman before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mark Wightman ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mark Wightman

In research: Mark Wightman appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mark Wightman in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mark Wightman is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, 20th-century American chemists, 21st-century American chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mark Wightman outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mark Wightman in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mark Wightman means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mark Wightman out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mark Wightman in simple terms?

Why does Mark Wightman matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mark Wightman?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mark Wightman.