Chad Leverette, PhD

Dean, Gupta College of Science
Professor of Chemistry
Site Lead

Coastal Carolina

Dr. Chad L. Leverette is the Dean of the Gupta College of Science and a Professor of Chemistry at Coastal Carolina University. As dean of the college, Dr. Leverette serves as the chief academic administrator and is responsible for personnel and program administration for the seven departments in the college as well as the School of the Coastal Environment. Prior to his arrival at Coastal, Dr. Leverette served as the Dean of the College of Sciences and Engineering at the University of South Carolina Aiken. In addition to his service as dean, Dr. Leverette held many different leadership positions at USC Aiken including Department Chair for the Department of Chemistry and Physics and Director of Sponsored Research. Dr. Leverette also served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. In this role, he served as a senior advisor to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs while also serving as the Director of the Honors Program, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, and lead administrator over three general education requirements. Throughout Dr. Leverette’s academic career as a faculty member and administrator, Dr. Leverette has sought to increase student success through nationally recognized high-impact practices which include undergraduate research, internships, industry-mentored capstones and other experiential learning practices. In his career, Dr. Leverette has obtained more than $2 million in grants for undergraduate research from agencies such as the American Chemical Society, the U.S. Dept. of Energy, and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Leverette was recognized for his outstanding work in teaching, scholarship, and service by being named the 2010 South Carolina Governor’s Professor of the Year by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. Prior to the start of his academic career as a faculty member, Dr. Leverette was a Senior Research Scientist for the world’s largest food/agricultural company, Cargill, as a senior vibrational spectroscopist in their global R&D division. Dr. Leverette received a B.S. in Chemistry from Erskine College and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Georgia.