Rate My Professor David Schrum

David Schrum serves as the Department Chair and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Redlands, where he has been a faculty member since 1999. He progressed through the ranks from Assistant Professor (1999–2005) to Associate Professor (2005–2011) and Professor (2011–present). Earlier in his career, Schrum held positions as a Visiting Research Professor at Louisiana State University (2005–2006), Analytical Postdoctoral Research Associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1998–1999), and Research Associate at Microbial Insights Inc. in collaboration with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1996–1997). He earned his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Purdue University and his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.

Schrum's research focuses on analytical chemistry applications, notably electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) employing capillary electrophoresis (CE) for enzyme assays and substrate quantification via Michaelis–Menten kinetics. His enzyme studies center on lactate dehydrogenase using lactate or pyruvate substrates with NADH or NAD+ cofactors, enabling calibration curves for clinical unknown concentrations. Additionally, he analyzes mesembrine-type alkaloids from the South African plant Sceletium tortuosum, which acts as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; this involves extraction, purification, thin-layer chromatography, automated accelerated column chromatography, and GC–MS confirmation. Schrum actively mentors undergraduate researchers, resulting in numerous conference presentations, including Klausner, A.; Lyons, R.; Schrum, D. P. "Analytical Determination of Kidney- and Bladder-Stone-Causing Minerals and Compounds in Dog Foods" at SCCUR 2023; Ionescu, L.; Schrum, D. P. "Isolation and Characterization of the Four Major Alkaloids in Sceletium tortuosum" at ACS 2022; and several EMMA-related works from 2016–2017. His efforts have been supported by awards such as HEDCO Foundation grants for GC–MS (2016) and LC–MS (2010) instrumentation, and the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Grant (2003–2007).