Dr. Spencer J. Anthony-Cahill is a Professor of Chemistry at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Washington. Spencer received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Whitman College and his doctorate in bioorganic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. His graduate work in Peter Schultz’s laboratory focused on the biosynthetic incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins.

Dr. Spencer worked as an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Bill DeGrado’s laboratory (then at DuPont Central Research) on de novo peptide design and the prediction of the tertiary structure of the HLH DNA-binding motif. He then worked as a research scientist in the biotechnology industry for five years, developing recombinant haemoglobin as a treatment for acute blood loss.

Professor Anthony-Cahill decided to pursue his long-held interest in teaching and moved to WWU in 1997, where he is still today. He received the Peter J. Elich Award for Excellence in Teaching from WWU in 2012.