Stacy Vassar

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Stacy Vassar, Lab Coordinator – Organic Chemistry

Man in glasses smiling

Hello!  My name is Stacy Vassar and I am currently the Lab Coordinator for organic chemistry labs here at St. Lawrence University.

I grew up with two brothers in Plattsburgh, NY.  My mother was a homemaker for most of my childhood years, branching out into entry-level factory work and such as we got older.  My mother quit high school when she was 16 and never earned a GED.  My father was a high school graduate and a carpenter, specializing in drywall work as well as remodeling kitchens.  Manual labor all the way.

I graduated from high school in 1990 and started my college career at a community college, majoring in medical laboratory technology (A.A.S.).  This allowed me an opportunity to work at the local hospital in the medical lab and as a phlebotomist.  I was one of the first lab technicians to be hired to work in the cancer center drawing/analyzing patient bloodwork and report results (everyone had abnormal blood values) to the doctors.

After a year or two, I decided to further my education with SUNY and earned a B.S. in Biochemistry/Biophysics in 1995, continuing on to earn the M.A. in Natural Sciences with an emphasis in organic chemistry in 1997.

In between earning all three college degrees I worked mostly in retail, working my way up from stock clerk to assistant manager.  I supplemented my free time as a volunteer EMT.

After earning my graduate degree, I was hired by a major pharmaceutical company to work in their sterile products division.  After a year, I was promoted to a QA/QC position in the group that manufactured Effexor® (similar to Prozac® in its mechanism of action).  I subsequently earned promotions to Training and Development and finally as a member of the group responsible for working with the FDA doing reports.  I ended my tenure at the company when they announced planned closure and the company was purchased by Pfizer.

In 2009 I was interviewed and then hired here at SLU to coordinate both the general and organic chemistry labs.  As student populations grew, we hired a second lab coordinator who took over the general chemistry side of my duties and I moved solely to organic chemistry.

As a first generation student, I empathize with first-years that may feel inadequate compared to their peers because of finances (I paid for college through loans since mom and dad couldn’t afford to help), lack of worthiness, no on to look up to (my parents didn’t go to college so I had no prior, personalized advice), and feeling like I just didn’t belong to certain groups.  Likewise, it was difficult for me to network with other first-year students because that just didn’t seem to be a thing when I went to college.  I am here to assist you in any way I can so feel free to reach out.