Michael Salazar found his niche in theoretical chemistry during his third year of graduate work at the University of Utah. Salazar, now assistant professor of chemistry at Union, developed a computer program to simulate chemical reactions.

�The program predicts what will happen with actual chemical experimentation,� he said. �It saves time for the researcher. Once the outcome is predicted, the research can be tested in the laboratory. It combines the work of a theoretician with an experimentician.�

Some of that research yielded surprising results that could not be explained, Salazar says. The result has been an expansion of his work into gas phase reactions.

�I�m trying to find reasons for certain reactions,� he explained. �Gas phase reactions are those that happen in gaseous systems, not in water or solutions.�

He also is applying methodology used in the computer program to larger systems. The results would yield accurate simulations of large gas-phase reactive systems.

Salazar earned his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1998 and moved on to post-doctoral study at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. As a researcher in the theoretical chemistry and molecular physical group, he worked on major programming projects, the degradation of nuclear weapons and, of course, chemical reactions.

�I still collaborate with Los Alamos,� he said. �Some of the research is classified. For the most part, it involves how nuclear weapons age.�

Salazar left Los Alamos and came to Union in 2001. He says the decision to join the faculty was easy and was based on a desire to link the scientific world with his faith.

�I decided to teach at Union because I desire to teach�and learn�how the Gospel is relevant to every area of life,� he said. �I am also anxious to see a university take up the cause of higher education that is unapologetically and self-consciously Christian.�

Salazar believes Christianity gives science meaning, and he wants to pass that belief on to his students.

�The first few lectures of each science class are spent on discussions concerning the Christian philosophy of science and how it is the Christian position alone that makes science intelligible,� he said.

Salazar�s focus on scholarly excellence and the Christian faith makes him a real asset for Union University, according to President David S. Dockery.

�Michael Salazar is a brilliant scholar on the cutting edge of research in the field of chemistry,� Dockery said. �His zeal for chemistry is shaped by his thoughtful reflections on how a Christian worldview bears upon his work.�